WOW - Women of the World Celebrates International Women’s Day 

WOW - Women of the World has announced the return of its flagship London Festival for 2027, which will take place at Southbank Centre between 5-7 March.

The London edition of the world’s biggest, most comprehensive festival celebrating women, girls and non-binary people, will take over the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in March with three days of world class speakers, inspiration, activists, musicians, artists and comedians. Supported by WOW’s Global Founding Partner Bloomberg as the headline sponsor, the initial line-up will be announced in the coming months with early bird festival passes going on sale in the summer.

Earlier today, as part of the organisation’s International Women’s Day activity, WOW brought together a group of leaders from government, business, philanthropy, the arts and the third sector with experts from the both the women and girls and men and boys sectors, for an urgent roundtable discussion to address the epidemic of violence against women and girls and the necessity for a wider public discourse across all genders.

In the UK in 2025, 3000 VAWG crimes were reported each day, with one woman killed by a man every three days and annually one in 12 women experienced violence (Source: The National Police Chief's Council). Over twenty contributors including Nazir Afzal OBE, Chancellor of the University of Manchester, Dr Giovanna Lauro, Deputy CEO of Equimundo and the Honorable Julia Gillard met to discuss how the collective urgency surrounding Gender Based Violence, and the unfolding crisis for both women and girls and boys and men, can be harnessed to create impactful public encounters that widen the discourse and inspire collaborative action.

Hosted by Jude Kelly, WOW’s Founder Director, and WOW’s CEO Colette Bailey, the roundtable drew on research and development undertaken by WOW over a 12 month period exploring the potential of a large-scale international event to support the drive to eradicate Gender Based Violence. Discussions included collective approaches to building pathways between policy and public engagement; greater collaboration between sectors focusing on women and girls and boys and men to accelerate progress; and how arts and culture can be utilised as powerful tools for transformative and impactful change. Insights from the panel were wide ranging, including the need for centring optimism in public interventions, and the pivotal role that culture and the arts can play in narratives by creating physical spaces for people to convene and imagine better futures.

Jude Kelly, WOW’s Founder Director said: “The epidemic of violence against women and girls needs to be addressed by everyone. It's an urgent issue requiring a collective response and greater collaboration across sectors. We are seeing this urgency reflected in policy, but public discussion and discourse need to be widened. Through our festivals and events, WOW creates impactful public spaces where everyone can come together to explore solutions through a lens of optimism and joy. These conversations will sit at the heart of WOW London, which we are delighted to be bringing back to the Southbank Centre in 2027."

Dr Giovanna Lauro, Deputy CEO of Equimundo said: “Ending violence against women and girls also means engaging men and boys in building healthier models of masculinity. Equimundo’s State of UK Men shows that 91% of men say being a good friend defines what it means to be a man today - highlighting the power of care and connection. Spaces like this roundtable, and cultural platforms like WOW, create powerful public encounters that bring those values to life, and we’re excited to continue that work together at the MenCare Changemaker Summit in Rio de Janeiro in May.”

These outcomes will be incorporated into the planning for WOW’s London Festival in 2027, helping to shape and develop two dedicated programming strands within the festival centering on Gender Based Violence - the first is a continuation of WOW’s Shameless! Festival of Activism Against Sexual Violence which took place in 2021 in partnership with research programme SH+ME at Birkbeck University. The second, Boys and Men is part of WOW’s long-term work exploring how to engage men and boys in the gender equality conversation and explore reshaping narratives around masculinity. This work includes the upcoming MenCare Changemaker Summit, which WOW are co-presenting with global gender equality charity Equimundo in Rio de Janeiro in May 2026.

Founded by Jude Kelly, WOW is a global alliance of partners working together to drive an equal and inclusive future for women, girls and non-binary people. Since its inception in 2010, WOW has delivered 150 festivals and programmes, across 71 places and six continents, inspiring millions of participants to take action and make change.

Attracting five million people worldwide to date, WOW has supported thousands of activists, brought previously taboo subjects into mainstream dialogue and acted as a catalyst for the launch and success of countless campaigns. WOW's unique methodology connects a diverse range of people and audiences to a multitude of stories and perspectives, both informing and galvanising them to make positive change, including through WOW 365, its new digital events platform offering people the WOW Festival feeling all year round.

Impact studies show that after attending a WOW event 64% take action towards positive change and 84% of people feel a gender equal world is possible compared to just 58% who haven't attended. In its 15th anniversary year (2025), events and festivals took place in Baltimore, Athens, Istanbul, Lahore, Rio, Rotherham, Edinburgh, across the North East and Brisbane and Gladstone in Australia. 2026 festivals include Karachi, which took place in February, Athens this spring, Rotherham in May, and Cairns in September with more to be announced. On International Women's Day (Sunday 8 March) WOW, in partnership with S&DR200, launched a special North East edition of The Hope Brigade, the organisation's ever-growing photography project that highlights trailblazing women, girls and non-binary people from across the world, at a special event in Middlesbrough. The exhibition, consisting of 26 portraits of extraordinary women and non-binary people from across the North East shot by award-winning local photographer Joanne Coates, will tour different locations across the region throughout March including Shildon, Newcastle, and Darlington.