Women of the World Festival


Women of the World Festival is an annual arts and science festival based in London, that celebrates the achievements of women and girls, as well as looking at the obstacles they face across the world. As a global feminist movement, it seeks to inspire new generations of young women and girls.
The festival was founded in 2010 by Jude Kelly, a theatre director and former artistic director of London's Southbank Centre. It takes place in early March around International Women's Day. WOW sponsors lectures, debates and performance on a range of themes and topics. Its principal venue is the Southbank Centre, where it was founded. There are satellite venues at other locations, notably Cambridge, England; Hong Kong, Ethiopia, Australia, Iceland, New York, and Egypt.
Since 2015 Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has been WOW's president. Also in 2015 the BBC streamed much of its content.
The Southbank Centre has been listed in The Times Top 50 employers for women. Its Women of the World festival was nominated for two awards as part of the Business in the Community Workplace Gender Equality Awards 2016.

Description

Women of the World is a week-long festival held in various places around the world. It features musical performances, debates, public speeches, mentoring sessions, and more. The festival is usually referred to as WOW.
The first WOW Festival was held in the United Kingdom, but it now takes place in many other locations throughout the world. The festivals are rooted in local areas, but are connected internationally. The festivals feed into each other, sharing stories and inspiring one another. All of the festivals are intertwined but each is unique in its own way; they all share the same WOW name. To date the Women of the World Festival has been held across three continents. By 2018, WOW was due to take place in 53 countries.
The WOW Foundation was incorporated in 2018, with Kelly as its first director.