A year of WOW around the world

2025 has felt heavy for many; the news can seem relentless and across the world, women’s rights and freedoms are under renewed threat. In moments like these, coming together – to talk, and more importantly to listen to one another – becomes an act of defiance, hope and solidarity. 

That’s exactly what we’ve done in our 15th year, reaching over a million people with WOW Festivals, events and campaigns around the world. This year there have been WOW Festivals in Lahore, London, Brisbane, Athens, Baltimore, Istanbul, Rotherham, Biloela, Newcastle, Durham, Stockton-on-Tees, Gladstone and Rio de Janeiro – that’s five continents! In addition we’ve unveiled a new look, launched a new website and unveiled WOW 365, our global digital membership. It’s been quite the birthday and we can’t wait to see what the next 15 years hold.

We are so grateful to everyone who makes this work possible, especially our Global Founding Partner Bloomberg, WOW partners across the world and everyone who takes part. Together we’ve laughed, cried, danced and sung. At festivals and events across the world, we’ve raged together, played together and tried new things together. That collective energy continues to give us hope and inspires us to keep going, because everyone deserves equality.

So, let’s take a snapshot look at just some of what WOW has been up to this year. It’s been jam-packed, so grab a cup of tea and settle in for the story so far…

We kicked off our 15th year in Lahore with an incredible WOW Pakistan Festival, welcoming over 13,000 people. At the same time, we were in the North East of England holding a series of WOW Think Ins in Newcastle, Durham, Stockton, Shildon and Darlington, kickstarting the first-ever WOW North East Festival.

WOW Australia took the exhibition In Her Name to Biloela and hosted What Now? What Next? following last year’s Festival in the Banana Shire. WOW Rotherham celebrated Galentines with an evening of crafts and conversation, Drag Bingo and karaoke. And we took The WOW Show with Jude Kelly to Athens.

In March we celebrated International Women’s Day – and our 15th birthday! – with WOW at 15, headlined by Angela Davis at the Royal Albert Hall. If you missed it, WOW 365 members can now watch that conversation on demand. WOW Australia marked the moment with Jazz Women of the World at the Brisbane Jazz Club, followed by WOW Think Ins on the Central Coast. 

April brought a bumper WOW weekend, with WOW Athens taking place alongside WOW Baltimore – the latter returning for the first time since 2018 and headlined by Olympian Dominique Dawes (also available on demand for WOW 365 members). We finished the month with an event at the British Consulate celebrating five years of WOW Istanbul.

WOW Rotherham returned in May for a fantastic town-centre event, welcoming over 5,000 visitors and featuring Saroj Patel’s stunning installation in Rotherham Minster.

Meanwhile, The WOW Show continued its tour. As well as becoming available as a podcast, it enjoyed a 10-day run at the Edinburgh Fringe with guests including Ruth Jones, Nicola Sturgeon, Desiree Burch and Sindhu Vee, before Jude whizzed around the world to take it to the Brisbane Festival, where guests included Prima Facie playwright Suzie Miller.

This year we launched Feminist Activism amongst Youth in Brazil (FAYB) – an international project led by King’s College London, in partnership with Redes da Maré, Queen Mary University of London and People’s Palace Projects. The project brought together young women and non-binary people from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and the North East of England to explore how creativity can be used to end gender-based violence.

Over the summer, the group in Maré worked with local artists to explore how gender-based violence intersects with climate change, racial justice and reproductive rights. Meanwhile, young people in the North East explored histories of resistance in their own communities – including the region’s mining heritage – to inspire powerful banner-making.

On International Day of the Girl, we took to the skies once more with WOW Speed Mentoring, bringing together 150 girls and non-binary young people from across the South East, alongside the brilliant FAYB group from South Shields, some of whom were visiting London for the first time.

They also had the chance to put their questions to Joanne McCartney, Deputy Mayor of London, as we reflected on the change we want to see over the next 15 years. We asked each young person to think about what they deserve – and you can see their responses in our digital exhibition of portraits by Fanny Beckman.

Then it was up to Durham for the very first WOW North East – an incredible weekend packed with energy and inspiration. Headliners included former Lioness Jill Scott, broadcaster Ashley James and comedians Athena Kugblenu and Jordan Gray.

At the same time, WOW Australia hosted the first-ever WOW Gladstone. With a comedy gala, the first WOW Men’s Breakfast, WOW Bites from extraordinary local speakers, and workshops on weaving, podcasting and being an active bystander, it was a brilliant first visit to the city.

At the end of October, WOW Rio took place in Maré for the very first time, placing the women of the favela at its centre. The programme brought together women from the 15 favelas of Maré – home to over 140,000 people – alongside participants from across Brazil and international guests. The weekend was filled with urgent conversations, laughter, music and connection. Meanwhile, WOW Australia hosted their annual Schools Day, combining WOW Speed Mentoring on the Brisbane Wheel with WOW Big Ideas.

In November, we joined Kreşendo at their music festival Bu Festival Bizim in Istanbul for a WOW Think In. As our new producing partner for WOW Istanbul, they brought together an inspiring mix of women and non-binary people from across the arts and civil society to reflect on the future of WOW in Turkey, the unique challenges they’re facing, and how we can connect across borders to push back against growing resistance to equality.

Back in London, we brought together artists, activists and thinkers for WOW Presents… An Evening with Jordan Stephens and Friends at Shoreditch Town Hall. Jordan was joined by guests including Jameela Jamil, Gary Stevenson, Asim Chaudhry and Big Zuu for an evening of conversation, performance and plenty of laughs, exploring masculinity, vulnerability, power and possibility. WOW 365 members will be able to watch the full event on demand from 10 February.

As part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, WOW Rotherham took back the streets with Reclaim the Night. Working with local businesses and venues, the town centre was lit up with joy, hope and solidarity.

We also marked the 16 Days by partnering with Refuge to release Lorien Haynes’ film I Want A 24-Hour Rape Truce, inspired by Andrea Dworkin’s powerful 1983 address. The film features Self Esteem, Lianne La Havas, Jason Isaacs, David Morrissey, Dame Harriet Walter, Saffron Burrows, Nathan Fillion and Lennie James.

As the year draws to a close, we want to thank our partners and everyone who has attended a WOW Festival, Think In or event; everyone who has liked or shared our posts, told a friend about WOW, or supported our fundraising. WOW is about bringing people and ideas together, and we have loved meeting the extraordinary community that makes up WOW around the world.

WOW leaders of all kinds make WOW happen close to home. You can find out more about WOWs around the world – and the teams who deliver them – on our website.

Thank you for writing to us and sharing the changes you’ve made in your lives, the campaigns you’ve joined, the strength you’ve found, the knowledge you’ve passed on and the transformative moments you’ve experienced through WOW, wherever you are. And don’t forget, if you’ve looking for the WOW Festival feeling all year round, WOW 365 is for you!

Coming up in 2026…

After a short break over Christmas and New Year, we’ll return in January with so much to look forward to. WOW 365 kicks off on 20 January with Why We Gather, bringing together Julia Gillard, India Gary Martin and others to ask how we stay united when the world tries to pull us apart.

WOW Pakistan returns to its home in Karachi for their 10th edition – congratulations to the team on this incredible milestone! In March, WOW Athens will return to the SNFCC for their fourth Festival and we’ll be celebrating International Women’s Day in the North East of England (stay tuned for more details in the new year), in Brisbane and Central Coast in Australia.

In May, we’ll continue our partnership with Equimundo to deliver the first Global MenCare Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Later in the year, WOW Australia will be in Cairns, before we celebrate International Day of the Girl in London and Brisbane.

There’s much more ahead – both online and in person – and we hope you’ll join us, wherever you are in the world, as we continue to drive an equal and inclusive future for women, girls and non-binary people everywhere.