WOW Cardiff was the first first full-scale WOW festival in Wales and also the first bilingual festival in the UK and took place at Chapter from 24-25 November 2018. The programme included discussions on sexuality, menopause, courage, domestic abuse and race. Audiences could take part in workshops, don a pair of boxing gloves and fight like a girl, shake it like Beyoncé and learn ways to take care of yourself. WOW Cardiff featured miners striking, women boxers, leading feminist thinkers, international record breakers, mothers, clowns, young people, survivors, international activists and scientists and many, many more. Speakers included Charlotte Church, Micheal Sheen, Hermon and Heroda Berhane, Shahien Taj OBE, Lucy Owen, Dilys Price, and performances from singer-songwriter Sian Evans and Manchester based artist Layfullstop. The festival programmers were Charlotte Lewis and Rhiannon White.

WOW Cardiff was presented by Southbank Centre and supported by Spirit of 2012.

Spirit of 2012 funded nine of the UK’s regional WOW Festivals across five cities (Bradford, Cardiff, Norwich, Perth and Exeter) from 2016-2018. Across the three years, the project trained 107 women in cultural leadership, and supported 68 young women and girls to volunteer as WOWsers, shaping the festivals themselves. 650 people took part as facilitators, artists and speakers, and more than 9,000 people attended the events.

Spirit of 2012 is a funding charity, established by the Big Lottery Fund with a £47m endowment from the National Lottery. Spirit funds projects that bring people together – to learn something new, do something different, or experience something unique – and that leave behind a social legacy of increased wellbeing at an individual level, as well as happier and more connected communities.

Find out more about Spirit of 2012's work with WOW here.