Expect a day packed with energy, ideas and inspiration as WOW - Women of the World comes to the North East for the first time as part of S&DR200 for powerful conversations, joyful workshops, and unforgettable performances.

Taking place across Gala Durham and the nearby Clayport Library, festival-pass holders will be able to explore events, workshops and pop-ups as WOW explores what it means to be a woman and non-binary person in the North East right here, right now. Expect everything from politics to pop culture, sex to sport, activism to art-with a special focus on the realities hitting women hardest, from the cost of living crisis to climate change and more. We’ll travel back 200 years to spotlight women’s roles in the birth of the railway and look ahead to the future of tech and innovation in a dynamic panel on women in STEM. Because when it comes to building what’s next, locally and globally, women and girls are at the centre of the conversation.

There’ll be mindfulness painting, radical song-making, and poetry that grabs you by the heart, with surprise pop-ups from Tees Women Poets. This is a weekend where joy and injustice sit side by side. Where we’ll look at how both economic innovation and economic hardship is shaping women’s lives in the North East, our work, wages, health, and futures and the stories that too often go unheard. But, we’ll also dance, laugh and celebrate with Gritty and Glorious local theatre performances and dancing with confidence with Urban Kaos.

Whether you’re here to listen, learn, connect, or take action, WOW is for everyone, so join us at WOW North East as we make history, honour the past, and shape an equal future together.

About WOW North East Festival

Founded in 2010, more than 150 WOW Festivals and events have taken place in 71 locations across the world, and 2025 marks the first ever WOW Festival in the North East! Taking place in partnership with S&DR200, WOW North East Festival will pack Gala Durham full of unmissable talks, performances and workshops to celebrate the incredible women, girls and non-binary people of the North East. Other separately ticketed events taking place include An Evening with Ashley James at WOW on Saturday 18 October – an intimate conversation filled with insight, vulnerability and plenty of real talk – and on Friday 17 October, WOW North East Schools Day will welcome specially invited schools and young people for a dynamic day of inspiration, creativity, and big ideas. To find out more about WOW’s work with schools contact schools@thewowfoundation.com.

More WOW North East events are to be announced! Sign up to WOW’s newsletter here for all the latest news and announcements.