Every year Women of the World hold a festival to celebrate the achievements of women and girls, alongside informative and empowering talks. However, due to the current situation with the coronavirus, the organisation held a virtual festival in partnership with BBC Arts as part of the BBC’s Culture in Quarantine project. The virtual festival involved many talks surrounding issues that women experience, for example, the sexism they face in during the normal day-to-day, and these talks were featured on several BBC channels following the WOWxBBC partnership. Although the virtual festival has already aired, you can watch all of the talks by clicking the link here. The WOW Foundation is also presenting a further 24-hour virtual festival on 27-28 June which I am personally highly anticipating.

The WOW Festival was established by Jude Kelly in 2010 and now takes place in 30 locations across six continents. The WOW Foundation was then rebranded as an independent charity in 2018 with the goal of furthering the movement as ‘a force for change’. The aims of the foundation and the festival are to demonstrate the need for gender equality, conveying the obstacles women face in their daily lives due to their gender alone. Some may argue that gender inequality no longer exists, but this claim is unfounded. You only need to turn to the internet to witness the ways in which women are still made to feel inferior to their male counterparts. The gender pay gap still exists, women are still catcalled in the streets and we are still judged on the way we dress. WOW seeks to diminish these claims and illustrate the striking contrast between the ways women and men are treated, whilst raising awareness of all inequalities. Kelly is an inspiring figure and an excellent role model for impressionable young girls as she fights for change.

In terms of the virtual festival, there are two videos of morning stretches and a wind-down yoga session providing a perfect combination of gentle exercise and mindfulness with inspiring female figures. Talks that I would particularly recommend from the virtual festival include Chore Wars, Women, Leadership and Progress and Women from History, although if you have the time, I would recommend giving all the talks a listen. Women from History includes a segment from Sandi Toksvig for all those who love the GBBO. It is important to acknowledge how far we’ve come on the issue, but gender still affects everyday activities, an idea which is perfectly encapsulated in the Chore Wars talk. I also think it’s interesting to learn about the less obvious ways in which gender issues impact women, for example, there is an insightful talk on women and how their personal finances are affected by Covid-19.

It is useful to note that each talk uploaded comes with a clip of a sign language interpreter to make sure they’re accessible for those with hearing difficulties. One thing which Jude Kelly strives to achieve is inclusivity and thus this festival is not only inclusive to women but also racial minorities, those who have a disability and the LGBTQ+ community. Tying in with the Black Lives Matter movement disability activists, The Triple Cripples discuss what it entails to be a black disabled woman and how they are ‘increasing visibility’. The story behind the name Triple Cripples comes from the three levels of marginalisation that Jumoke Abdullahi and Kym Oliver (the duo behind the name) experience on a daily basis; they are both black, women and disabled. You can follow their Twitter account here to learn more about them.

For those who love podcasts and feminism, the WOW Podcast with Jude Kelly is launching this Spring, I will be giving it a listen and strongly recommend that others do to. The WOW Festival combines deep talks through serious issues with more light-hearted discussions around ideas such as how to style your hair during lockdown, and this is what you can expect of the podcast. Essentially, whilst the festival tackles serious and pertinent issues, it is ‘also a place of warmth, inclusiveness and fun’ as described by founder Kelly. If you find yourself with some extra time on your hands, which I’m sure most will with lockdown, check out some of the inspiring talks here.