Women of the World 2020: How to get involved with the festival from home

Festival will be streamed live from WOW website

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Women of the World (WOW) festival has had to take its annual conference online.

Organised by the WOW Foundation, which was founded by Jude Kelly in 2010, the event is about celebrating women and girls, and examining the obstacles they face.

WOW Festivals have taken place across the world, as led by Kelly and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, who is the WOW Foundation's president.

This year, the Foundation is hosting WOW Global 24, its first-ever online event. It will feature performances, panel discussions and interviews.

The festival will be entirely free and will run for 24 hours from Saturday 27 June.

Here's everything you need to know to get involved.

When will WOW Global 24 take place?

WOW Global 24 will begin at 10.30am BST on Saturday 27 June and will run non-stop until 10.30am on Sunday 28 June.

How can I watch the talks?

The festival will be live-streamed from the WOW Foundation's website.

Events will take place on two channels: the Global Channel and the Local Channel, both of which will simultaneously stream events for the entire 24-hour period.

The Global Channel will feature BSL Interpretation by Performance Interpretation, and captioning by My Clear Text and Stagetext.

Both channels have been curated by different partners of the WOW Foundation.

The Global Channel has been programmed in partnership with: Connected Women Leaders; Theirworld; Care International; Disasters Emergency Committee; RAW in WAR (Reach All Women in War); UN Women; and WOW Festivals and partners across the world.

The Local Channel is curated by WOW partners including: British Council (South Asia and Turkey), Across Red Lines (the Middle East), WOW USA, Jagriti -Women Center of Excellence (India), Ake Arts and Book Festival (Nigeria), WOW Bradford (UK), Redes De Mares (Brazil), WOW Australia / Of One Mind (Australia and the Pacific) and WOW Malaysia.

Is there a theme for the event?

The lineup has been planned in response to current events, including racial injustice and the disproportionate impact the pandemic is having on women and girls.

In light of this, there are six themes to the festival: education, climate, justice, health, the economy, and violence.

After every discussion, there will be a musical performance from female artists, including West African supergroup Les Amazones d’Afrique, Syrian oudist Rihab Azar and Nigerian-British singer-songwriter Helen Epega.

How do I book tickets?

No need to book tickets, those who want to watch the events simply need to head to the WOW Foundation's website.

Who is on the lineup?

There will be many important discussions and panel talks taking place.

On the Local Channel, panel talks include one on feminist responses to the environment and another on gender-based violence moderated by Aisha Saludee.

At 8pm on Saturday, Penny Wangari Jones, activist and Director of Racial Justice Network, will be in conversation with her mum Dr Cristine Kahigi, a historian and academic at Nairobi University. They’ll be discussing intergenerational activism.

There will also be some cooking classes, including one on how to make vegan pakoras.

Over on the Global Channel, there will be discussions on climate justice, the Black Lives Matter movement, and period poverty.

Highlights will include campaigner Nimco Ali, who is speaking at the WOW Closing Session on Sunday morning, and Somalian activist Leyla Hussein, who will chair a panel discussion on health activism.

Additionally, American political activist Angela Davis will discuss some of the key themes of WOW Global 24 with Kelly; from Black Lives Matter to the potential ramifications the pandemic poses to the fight for gender inequality.

Other names on the lineup include: former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Indian disability and gender rights activist Nidhi Goyal, former President of Ireland Mary Robinson; and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations under-secretary-general and executive director of UN Women.

Actors Gillian Anderson and Thandi Newton will also be performing readings for the festival.

Will the Duchess of Cornwall be taking part?

Yes, at 6pm on Saturday over on the Global Channel, the Duchess of Cornwall and the actor Sir Patrick Stewart, a major supporter of the charity Refuge, will speak about the work they’re doing to draw attention to domestic violence and campaign to prevent it.