Come and help shapeWOW - Women of the Worldfestival, Perth 2018
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● WOWThinkinsare open planning sessions forWOWPerth that anyone can attend, taking place in Perth on the 20th, 21stand 24thMarch. They are an opportunity to contribute toWOWand share your ideas about whatWOWPerth should be about and include.
● The ideas contributed at theThinkinswill become part of the planning process forWOWPerth which takes place from 28th- 30thSeptember 2018 in Perth Theatre.
WOW - Women of the Worldfestival is returning to Perth on September 28th- 30th2018 - Scotland's only WOW Festival - and people from across the country areinvited to come and contribute to what they would like to see on the festival programme.
Last year's inaugural festival celebrated the stories of women not just from Perth and Kinross but from all across Scotland and beyond. From the joy of hearing about Elaine Hopley's ocean rowing expedition, debating how and why we need to change the script on violence against women, empowering workshops for the under 10's, teenage girls interviewing Scotland's first female First Minister to throwing shapes on our intergenerational dance partyWOW Perth 2018is a weekend you don't want to miss.
WOW Thinkinswill be held in Perth, Aberfeldy and Kinross next month offering people the chance to come along to one of the two-hour sessions and share their ideas on the types of subjects they'd like to see covered in this year's weekend-long celebration of women and girls. Whether it's a specific issue, or perhaps a suggestion on a potential speaker at the festival, theWOWteam are keen to get the thoughts of the people of Perthshire to help them shape the 2018 programme.
The Perth sessions will be held at Perth Theatre between 10:30 - 12:30 and 18:30 - 20:30 on Tuesday 20thMarch, with the Aberfeldy session taking place at The Birks Cinema between 18:30 - 20:30 on Wednesday 21st. The finalWOWThinkinwill be held in Kinross at the Loch Leven Community Campus on Saturday 24thMarch between 11:00 - 13:00.
WOWPerth's festival programmer, Lou Brodie, is excited about the 2018 weekend and hopes that as many local people as possible come along to theThinkinsto get involved in creating this year's programme.
"After the amazing success of last year's festival here in Perth we're really excited to get going with the 2018 event.
"TheWOW Thinkinsare a great chance for women - and men - to come together and to share ideas on what they think is important to them, what they think should be included over the weekend, and basically to just play a part at the grassroots level of this great festival."
Jude Kelly, Artistic Director of Southbank Centre and founder ofWOWsaid: "It's been an amazing and startling year for gender equality and theWOWPerth 2018 festival gives us an opportunity to celebrate women and girls everywhere. We would love everyone, from all generations, to join the dialogue, come along to a Thinkin and make our 2018 weekend another special event!"
Perth is one of five cities in the UK to receive funding from independent funding body Spirit of 2012 to create new WOW festivals this year, in celebration of the centenary of female suffrage in the UK.
"One of Spirit's goals for 2018 is to empower, inspire and engage young women and girls to improve their wellbeing, enhance gender equality, and develop social cohesion," said Spirit of 2012 Chief Executive Debbie Lye. "We are immensely proud to fund five ofWOW's regional UK festivals, and can't wait to see what ideas the Perth Thinkins generate for this year's event."
To attend a WOW Thinkin session on one of the dates, you can register your place via the Eventbrite website. All venues are wheelchair accessible but should you have any additional requirements, contact Lou Brodie at wowperth@southbankcentre.co.uk.
WOW Perth will also provide education and participation opportunities in the lead up to the festival. These include a Volunteer Programme for ten volunteers aged 18 and over, a training programme that will equip them with skills to be part of the festival delivery team. The WOWsers Programme will see ten young people aged 15-18 collectively develop a project that will be showcased at the festival in September. Both opportunities are open to everyone regardless of experience and details will be announced soon. Please check the WOW Perth Facebook page - www.facebook.com/perthwow regularly or email wowperth@southbankcentre.co.uk to request to receive information about these training programmes when they are launched.
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NOTES to Editors:
Links to register your place on one of the WOW Thinkins:
Perth Theatre Thinkin - morning session -https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wow-women-of-the-world-2018-thinkin-perth-tickets-43245499453?aff=es2
Perth Theatre Thinkin - evening session -https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wow-women-of-the-world-2018-thinkin-perth-tickets-43245501459?aff=es2
Aberfeldy Thinkin -https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wow-women-of-the-world-thinkin-aberfeldy-tickets-43245629843?aff=eac2
Kinross Thinkin -https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wow-women-of-the-world-2018-thinkin-kinross-tickets-43305819873?aff=es2
About WOW - Women of the World
Southbank Centre'sWOW - Women of the Worldfestival is a global festival movement launched by Jude Kelly CBE in London in 2010 (with the first festival in March 2011) that celebrates women and girls, and looks at the obstacles that stop them from achieving their potential. To date,WOWhas reached nearly two million people worldwide and this number is growing year on year. With the HRH Duchess of Cornwall as President, Southbank Centre is now planning aWOWCommonwealth festival at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 with all 53 nations. Each festival across the world - made up of talks, debates, music, activism, mentoring, pop ups and performance - celebrates women and girls, takes a frank look at what prevents them from achieving their potential, and raises awareness globally of the issues they face and possible solutions. It reaches girls and women, boys and men from a broad range of social backgrounds and supplies a completely different sense of action and energy than a conventional conference approach. Speakers have included Malala Yousafzai, Christine Lagarde, Salma Hayek, Annie Lennox, Gordon Brown, Julie Walters, Patrick Stewart and many more including hundreds of women and men who don't have public profiles but are working everyday to achieve gender equality. wow.southbankcentre.co.uk
Southbank Centre is the UK's largest arts centre, occupying a 17 acre site that sits in the midst of London's most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Southbank Centre is home to the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery as well as The Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection. For further information please visit www.southbankcentre.co.uk. Southbank Centre is carrying out vital restoration work on the Hayward Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room to make the buildings fit for future generations to enjoy, more information can be found here: letthelightin.southbankcentre.co.uk
About Spirit of 2012
Spirit of 2012 is a funding charity, established with £47 million from the Big Lottery. It funds partners across the UK that provides opportunities in sports, physical activity, arts and culture, volunteering and social action. Spirit was founded to continue and recreate the spirit of pride, positivity and social connectedness that people experienced during the London 2012 Games.
They invest to create good outcomes for people and communities and have invested over £25 million into community projects in over 100 locations across the UK, benefiting more than 1 million people.