WOW – Women of the World, and Factory International have today announced the full programme for WOW Manchester, which will take place at Aviva Studios from 24-26 May.
Over two days and three evenings the world’s biggest, most comprehensive festival celebrating women, girls and non-binary people comes to Manchester for the first time, bringing together inspiring speakers to celebrate the achievements of women, girls and non-binary people and find solutions to the pressing issues of gender inequality.
Sara Pascoe will join WOW Founder and CEO Jude Kelly on Saturday 25 May for an evening of conversation and readings from her debut novel Weirdo, providing insight into what it takes to craft comedic and captivating stories on the page in an evening filled with gags, entertainment and inspiration. She joins previously announced headliners Melanie Brown in conversation with Louise Gannon (Friday 24 May) and Jordan Stephens in conversation with Miquita Oliver (Sunday 26 May).
The Saturday and Sunday day programmes will each feature a different line-up offering audiences the opportunity to choose from a wide variety of events, discussions, performances and workshops, housed within a huge central marketplace as well as taking place throughout Aviva Studios’ many different spaces.
SATURDAY 25 MAY – DAY PROGRAMME
Award winning writer and actor Sophie Willan (Alma’s Not Normal), and actress and disability activist Liz Carr (Silent Witness) join the Saturday line-up to discuss the challenges and triumphs of being women on TV and why representation matters. In a conversation chaired by Geeta Pendse, the panel explores the narratives shaping our screens and cultures and who gets to tell those stories, as they share insights, laughs and their incredible personal journeys to fame, from growing up in care to navigating discrimination.
In addition there will be previously announced sessions with Jude Kelly and former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard, who will open the Saturday programme exploring the world women, girls and non-binary people face today; The Chain author Chimene Suleyman in conversation with author and activist Charlie Craggs and Dr Leyla Hussein will explore how relationships can quickly turn sour and why society allows persistent misogyny to thrive; and DJ Paulette – one of only two women DJs to have a regular residency at the Hacienda – discussing Manchester’s lost music venues with Factory International’s Head of Music Rivca Burns and Santana Guérout, Chief of Programming at Band on the Wall.
WOW’s Big Ideas provide opportunities to hear some of the world’s best and most compelling speakers present their big ideas to change the world. On Saturday, Dr Layal Liverpool will explore how racism is making us ill; Gift Sally Akinyi O from Womankind Worldwide talks Everyday Feminism and how everydays acts help us move towards achieving gender equality; Taslima Ahmed from CDM UK, will discuss navigating a late life autism diagnosis as a South Asian woman; David Bartlett from Equimundo explains why better boyhoods are good for everyone; and Mel Johnson talks Solo parenting.
Workshops will take place throughout the day delving into a broad range of topics, ideas and creative practices. Pole dancer, academic, performer, activist and blogger Dr Carolina Are will lead a session on the algorithmic bias against nudity, its relationship to patriarchy and how to challenge censorship publicly. Hattie Hasan MBE, founder of Stopcocks Women Plumbers will hold a plumbing workshop for beginners, whilst Yamina Peerzada from WOW Pakistan will lead a session where creativity meets eco consciousness. There will also be a special workshop on Tatreez – traditional Palestinian embroidery – its history and cultural significance, a zine making session with Take Up Space Manchester, and a music and mindfulness workshop inspired by Afro-Brazilian dance and body percussion.
SUNDAY 26 MAY – DAY PROGRAMME
Maxine Peake and Jude Kelly start the day with a discussion on Manchester, what the future looks like for the creative industries and the optimism that keeps them going.
Dr Leyla Hussein, Global Advocacy Director for The Girl Generation – Support to the Africa-led movement to end female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) will lead a conversation on what it means to have a girl-centred approach to tackling gendered violence. Joined by young people who are leading the fight against gendered violence in their communities across East Africa, the discussion will explore why the voices and experiences of young people must be at the forefront of meaningful change.
Actor Zawe Ashton and broadcaster Gemma Cairney, two friends with celebrated careers in the arts, will explore how identity and creativity intersect in a frank and open discussion touching on race, gender, new motherhood and how their industries often do not feel built for the complex intersections of so many artists.
Author and former hostage Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, curator and art historian Rachel Dedman and author on sustainable fashion Aja Barber discuss the transformative power of garments. The conversation will delve into the broader context of fashion, navigating male and state-imposed dress codes, touching on global movements for sustainability in the fashion industry, the erasure of traditions and how clothes and needlework can be tools for change and survival.
Sunday’s WOW Big Ideas will be from: Helen Pankhurst on why she can’t give it a rest; Nazir Afzal making the case for why organisational culture matters; Leanne Yau discussing Radical Connections Through Relationship Anarchy; and Dr Mona El-Farra exploring why the situation in Gaza is a feminist issue.
Girl Gang Manchester will kick off the workshops on Sunday morning with Screaming into the Void – a chance to scream at the top of your voice into a darkened, expansive space, followed by Angst Aerobics – an emotional exorcism through exercise. Dr Leyla Hussein explores the root cause of burnout in a session which will provide practical strategies to cultivate psychological safety. Award winning arts practitioner, podcaster and broadcaster, Audrey Hall facilitates a sharing circle for women creatives over the age of 35, to ask, ‘Was enough, enough?’, to connect and convene to launch her Safe Space Sisterhood community. Further sessions throughout the day includes drawing your inner self with Promina Shrestha from WOW Nepal, an upcycling workshop with Drag Kings from Morris Choudry Qreations, an empowering workshop focused on celebrating Black Joy and Menstrual Mood Mapping.
Across the festival WOW’s much-loved Marketplace will feature over 50 pop-up stores, experiences and happenings. There will be interactive spaces from Global Fund for Women, a film screening from Womankind Worldwide; a confessional booth inspired by Gillian Anderson’s new book Want; drop-in workshops on block-printing and clay modelling; a Re:Yak workshop on upcycling clothes from Lucy & Yak; a Youth Zone and new artistic installations commissioned especially for WOW Manchester – Womenity by Ina-Maria Shikongo and MOONMOTH by Tania Kovats on display.
Alongside the Day ticket programmes, WOW will present free events throughout the weekend. Guided history walks highlighting women confined to the footnotes of history will take place, whilst a WOW Pop-Up will host a range of activities in the Social Space including learning how to make dyes from natural ingredients, poetry and WOW bites sessions. As part of ongoing project My City, My Voice, four musicians from Istanbul and Manchester will take up residence at WOW Manchester to create new music, in situ at the festival over a six hour period. WOW’s much-loved Speed Mentoring sessions will take place in the lower foyer offering an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with people from a huge variety of fields, including theatre directors, journalists, scientists, campaigners, artists and WOW speakers.
In the lead-up to the festival, WOW will bring a very special edition of The Hope Brigade to Manchester. Originally conceived in 2020, The Hope Brigade is a photography series profiling incredible women working at the forefront of their fields in 10 essential areas from conflict to climate justice, from Ake to Athens and Beijing to Brisbane. Working in partnership with Selfridges, WOW Manchester has added a further 10 portraits to the collection, profiling incredible leaders, activists and experts living and working in the North West. The series will be on display at Selfridges Exchange Square from 13 – 28 May.
Run by UK charity The WOW Foundation, 2024 will be the 14th WOW Festival in the UK and the first to be held in Manchester. In 2018, WOW Founder Jude Kelly built on the success of the festival to create UK-based charity The WOW Foundation to run the global WOW movement that believes a gender equal world is urgently needed, possible and desirable. Since the inaugural London Festival in 2010, launched by Kelly at the Southbank Centre, WOW and its partners across the world have reached more than five million people in more than 45 locations across the globe on six continents. Alongside Manchester WOW Festivals have also taken place this year in locations including Pakistan and Istanbul, with Kathmandu coming up later this year.
The WOW Foundation is proudly supported by its Global Founding Partner Bloomberg.
