First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will kick-off the Women of the World Festival at Perth Concert Hall on Friday 27th October, the first time that the event has been held in Scotland.
Sturgeon will take to the stage with WOW Festival founder, Jude Kelly, to chat about gender equality, what drives her, women who inspire her and more. The First Minister will then take questions from the festivals ‘WOWsers' - young teenage women who have been working with WOW - in what has been billed as an evening of fun and frank chat about the most important and potent topics for women and girls today.
The WOW Perth launch with the First Minister runs from 7:30pm to 9pm on opening night of the festival, Friday 27th October.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "I'm extremely proud to be opening the first WOW Festival in Scotland.
"Events such as WOW are extremely important. They help to open up the debate about gender parity, how we can accelerate progress, overcome the obstacles facing women today and how we can deliver an age of true equality. Achieving this is my priority as First Minister, but it is an important task for all of us.
"I look forward to an evening of great discussion celebrating and recognising the many achievements of women and girls."
The First Minister kicks-off a packed weekend at Perth Concert Hall, which features some of the country's most prominent female figures. Val McDermid, Kirsty Wark, Luisa Omielan, Lesley Riddoch and Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh are just some of the names who'll be featuring over the weekend which comes to a close on Sunday 29th October at 5:30pm.
Tickets for the WOW Perth launch with Nicola Sturgeon are priced at £7.50 for adults and £5.00 for concessions. You can purchase tickets for the event or for the entire weekend from Horsecross Arts Box Office on 01738 621031.
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To book, please call Horsecross Ticket Office on or book online at https://www.horsecross.co.uk/season/wow-women-world-festival-perth
Tickets:
Weekend Pass: £20; concessions £16 (inc. £1.50 booking fee per ticket)
Saturday Day Pass: £12 (inc. £1.50 booking fee per ticket); concessions £7.50
Sunday Day Pass: £12 (inc. £1.50 booking fee per ticket); concessions £7.50
Several of the WOW weekend events are free to join. You'll find details of these sessions and how to sign up for them online.
Follow WOW- Women of the World Perth 2017 on #WOWPerth @perthWOW @WOWTweetUK
For further press information, please contact:
Nicola Martin, The Red String Agency, 07983 505 716
Notes to editors
Southbank Centre
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 National 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
WOW - Women of the World
Southbank Centre's WOW - Women of the World festival is a global festival movement launched by Jude Kelly CBE in London in 2011 that celebrates women and girls, and looks at the obstacles that stop them from achieving their potential. To date, WOW has reached over one million people worldwide and this number is growing year on year. With the HRH Duchess of Cornwall as President, Southbank Centre is now planning a WOW Commonwealth 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 every day to achieve gender equality. Over 25,000 people came to WOW London in 2016, thousands more have come to WOWs across the world and festival organisers have collaborated on cross-continental projects. www.southbankcentre.co.uk
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.
http://www.spiritof2012trust.org.uk/