Perth hosts Women of the World event

The First Minister will open a festival being held in Perth which celebrates women and their achievements.

WOW - Women of the World Perth – starts on Friday, October 27, with Nicola Sturgeon in conversation with WOW founder, Jude Kelly.

The full programme includes prominent activists, speakers, business women, artists, broadcasters and campaigners including Kirsty Wark, Halina Rifai, Dr Iris Elliott, Lesley Riddoch and Luisa Omielan.

The festival debuts in Scotland at Perth Concert Hall and includes talks and debates from top speakers, music, dance, theatre, performance, poetry and comedy as well as wide-ranging workshops and activities ranging from morning song to yoga, and speed mentoring to skateboarding.

Perth is the first Scottish city to host one of these WOWs and will produce the festival there in 2017 and 2018.

Founded by Jude Kelly CBE at Southbank Centre in 2010, WOW is now the largest women’s festival movement in the world, taking place across five continents, in countries from Pakistan to the USA.

Jude said: “WOW - Women of the World Festivals are designed to be agents of change in their host cities, providing a space for women to participate in discussion, education and collaboration on the issues that most impact their lives.

“Launched in 2011 in London, WOW Festivals have engaged and inspired more than one million women across five continents and cities in Australia, Egypt, India, Pakistan, the U.K., and at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. WOW is the biggest gathering of women and girls across the globe, and I'm so pleased that Perth is part of this story for change.”

Leading WOW Perth festival programmer Lou Brodie, said: “Over the past months I have met amazing local women from Perth and Kinross and brilliant women from a variety of Scotland’s dynamic communities.

“The WOW Perth weekend brings all of these women together as we ask ourselves what a gender equal Scotland might look like?

“This is Scotland and Perth’s first WOW and I hope everyone will jump in and participate; whether it’s taking part in workshops, lending their voice to the many discussions or simply listening from the audience we are encouraging women and men of all ages to come along and be inspired.”

Funded by Spirit of 2012, WOW - Women of the World Perth 2017 is part of Southbank Centre’s expansion of its global WOW network of festivals to create nine new WOWs in five cities across the UK to mark the centenary of female suffrage in 2018.

Debbie Lye, Chief Executive of Spirit of 2012, said: “Spirit is thrilled to support WOW Perth – an event that will bring people together to celebrate the diverse experiences and achievements of women and girls, to highlight challenges they face, to discuss possible solutions to these and to take action. This first festival in the series is a wonderful opportunity to engage people and communities across Scotland in creative and positive change.”

More information online at https://www.horsecross.co.uk/season/wow-women-world-festival-perth