The international festival for women, femininity and non-binary people returns for the third year in Athens

 

What we will see at WOW - Women of the World at the SNFCC

The international festival for women, femininity and non-binary people returns for the third year in Athens.

by mcteam

24/02/2025

From left: Gabriela Triantafyllis, Director of Planning and Production, SNFCC and Elli Andriopoulou, Managing Director, SNFCC, watch Jude Kelly, Founder of the WOW Foundation.

    In the heart of spring, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC), in collaboration with the WOW Foundation and the British Council, presents for the third year the WOW - Women of the World festival, the world's largest event for women, females and non-binary people. Speeches, discussions, screenings, concerts, school programmes, exhibitions and of course the colourful market, will await the public from 4 to 7 April 2025 at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC). Meanwhile, tonight, at the opening event of the event, WOW Show, at 20.30 at the Alternative Stage, Jude Kelly, founder of WOW and award-winning theatre director, talks with Katerina Athanasiadou, Vanessa Veneti and Katerina Vrana.

 

    A dynamic, joyful and inclusive festival, WOW Athens focuses on promoting gender equality and raising awareness of the everyday obstacles that women and non-binary people face today in all areas of their lives. "Gender equality is a prerequisite for a society that is prosperous, thriving and sustainable. Without equal opportunities for all, discussions and plans for progress and development are unfinished, if not unrealistic. By organizing WOW Athens, we are creating a platform for the vital discussions that our society needs and that can contribute to change", Elli Andriopoulou, Managing Director of the SNFCC, emphasized.

 

    Highlights of the festival include appearances by Roxane Gay (author of the now famous "Bad Feminist"), Carmen Maria Machado (award-winning American author) and Thalia Mavros (producer of the feminist series "The Principles of Pleasure").

    Arooj Aftab's performance on Monday 7 April at the Stavros Niarchos Hall is an artistic event. The musician combines traditional musical forms from South Asia with elements of jazz, electronic music and minimal aesthetics, resulting in the creation of a soundscape that challenges musical conventions and captivates. Her works draw inspiration from Ghazal (traditional love songs in Persian) and Eastern poetry.

    Among the screenings, we highlight Betsy West and Julie Cohen's RBG, on Sunday, April 6 at the Lighthouse, a documentary that captures the life and legacy of the then 85-year-old (2018) Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the most iconic women justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. Through interviews with Ginsburg herself, her family members, colleagues and friends, the documentary focuses on her personality and work, while analyzing her cultural influence and her transformation into a symbol of justice and power, with the younger generation calling her "Notorious RBG" and millennials celebrating her through social media.

    Some of the most interesting discussions in the announced programme are about domestic violence and related legislation in Greece, gender politics and feminism, rural women, everyday sexism in the workplace, motherhood and feminism, sex work and related legislation, patriarchy behind psychotherapy, why feminism is good for men, etc.

 

In detail, all the events at Wow Athens 2025 here: 

As a reminder, the WOW Foundation was established by Jude Kelly CBE in 2018 to manage the global WOW movement - Women of the World Festivals. The Festivals began in the UK in 2010, with the first festival organised by Kelly at London's Southbank Centre, where she was Artistic Director, in honour of women and girls, honestly examining what prevents them from reaching their full potential, raising awareness of the issues facing women and girls to a global audience, and discussing solutions together. To date, WOW counts more than 100 festivals and events reaching over five million people in 45 locations across six continents, including Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Finland, Egypt, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Somaliland, UK and USA.