Sarah McLachlan鈥檚 legendary all-female music festival Lilith Fair is getting the documentary treatment.

Producers at CBC and Elevation Pictures say they鈥檝e partnered with Dan Levy鈥檚 Not A Real Production Company on the feature-length project 鈥淟ilith Fair,鈥� which doesn鈥檛 yet have a release date.

The Lilith Fair documentary is directed by Toronto filmmaker Ally Pankiw, who鈥檚 worked on episodes of 鈥淪chitt鈥檚 Creek,鈥� 鈥淏lack Mirror鈥� and Mae Martin dramedy 鈥淔eel Good.鈥�

Lilith Fair was a major cultural movement of the late 1990s led by McLachlan and her team as an answer to the male-dominated industry of the era and its tendency to limit the number of women on a concert bill.

The all-female touring showcase started as a 1996 test run of four concerts with only McLachlan and Paula Cole. By the next year, it had blossomed into a full-scale tour with Sheryl Crow, Jewel, Indigo Girls and an array of other female musicians. The second year鈥檚 lineup included Bonnie Raitt and Erykah Badu.

All those performers reflect on their Lilith Fair memories in the documentary, as do younger artists influenced by the movement, including Brandi Carlile and Olivia Rodrigo.

The Lilith Fair production was inspired by the 2019 Vanity Fair article 鈥淏uilding a Mystery: An Oral History of Lilith Fair,鈥� and draws on more than 600 hours of archival footage, as well as interviews from fans and people who worked behind the scenes.

While the original Lilith Fair only ran for three summers, from 1997 to 1999, it鈥檚 credited for driving conversations around female representation and drawing attention to newcomers that included Missy Elliott, Nelly Furtado and Dido.

It also sparked a media frenzy, with McLachlan appearing on the covers of Time magazine and Rolling Stone and drawing backlash in some circles for the concert tour鈥檚 feminist goals.

鈥淚 was asked to defend it every step of the way,鈥� McLachlan told The Canadian Press in a 2017 interview.

鈥淚t was either too feminist or not feminist enough.鈥�

鈥淟ilith Fair鈥� will first be released theatrically before it screens as part of CBC鈥檚 鈥淭he Passionate Eye鈥� during its 2025-26 season.

This marks Pankiw鈥檚 first documentary and she says her goal is to offer 鈥渁 deeper understanding of the festival to the young female, non-binary and queer musicians and music fans.鈥�

Levy added that Lilith Fair was one of the first spaces where he remembered 鈥渇eeling at home.鈥�

鈥淲hat Sarah built with that festival changed so much for so many people,鈥� he said in a statement.

鈥淎nd while it is now seen as an odds-defying success story, it was an uphill battle every step of the way. And there is a lot to be learned from that story.鈥�

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