Further line-up announced for 2027 London Festival

PRESS RELEASE - TUESDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2026

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WOW - WOMEN OF THE WORLD ANNOUNCES FURTHER LINE-UP FOR ITS 2027 LONDON FESTIVAL

5 - 7 MARCH 2027, SOUTHBANK CENTRE

• LAURA BATES, SANDI TOKSVIG, AJA BARBER, MAXINE HERON, ANGELA SAINI, JOELI BREARLEY, POORNA BELL, NATASHA WALTER, ZAHRA JOYA, JORDAN STEPHENS, RICHIE BRAVE, HOLLIE MCNISH, BEN HURST AND FREDDIE FELTHAM ARE AMONG THE INITIAL SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED FOR THE FESTIVAL’S DAY PASS PROGRAMME.
• THEY JOIN GISÈLE PELICOT AND TARANA BURKE WHO WILL TAKE PART IN THE FESTIVAL’S HEADLINE EVENING EVENT DISCUSSING PELICOT’S MEMOIR ‘A HYMN TO LIFE’ AND 10 YEARS SINCE #METOO.
• FROM TRADWIVES TO LOOKSMAXXING, THE ROLL BACK OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS TO DISABILITY AND YOUTH ACTIVISM, SIBLING LOSS, MENTAL HEALTH, SEX, TECH, SPORTING HEROES AND MORE, THE DAY PASS PROGRAMME FEATURES SESSIONS, TALKS, WORKSHOPS AND POP UPS.
• TWO DISTINCT STRANDS OF WOW’S WORK, ‘SHAMELESS!’, EXPLORING SEXUAL VIOLENCE, AND ‘BOYS AND MEN’ EXPLORING MASCULINITIES, TO CONVERGE AT WOW LONDON FESTIVAL FOR THE FIRST TIME 
• DAY PASS TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE, WITH FURTHER EVENTS AND LINE-UP TO BE ANNOUNCED 

WOW - Women of the World has today announced the initial Day Pass Programme for WOW London 2027; the world’s biggest festival celebrating women, girls and non-binary people, returning to London from 5 - 7 March to mark International Women’s Day 2027. 

Across three days WOW will take over London’s Southbank Centre for a weekend of joy, urgency, laughter and rage, featuring a packed line-up of world-class speakers, inspirational activists, musicians, artists and comedians. Through discussions, workshops, performances and debates, the festival line-up will collectively explore solutions to the pressing issues of gender inequality and delve into the urgent questions shaping our lives.

Featuring a different line-up each day, WOW’s Day Pass Programme will provide audiences with the opportunity to choose from a wide variety of events and discussions. Spanning the personal and the political, the serious and the joyful, the festival sessions will cover a broad spectrum of topics from climate change to technology, housing precarity to choosing not to have children, political instability to reproductive justice, the mental load, learning to code, dating apps, sex and pleasure, sporting heroes, trad wives, pay and pension gaps and much more.

For the first time WOW will also incorporate two distinct programme strands into its London festival. Inspired by the organisation’s Shameless! Festival, one strand will focus on how to end sexual violence, while the other, inspired by WOW’s Men & Boys events, will address everything from whats happening to boys online to men’s pivotal role in the fight to achieve gender equity. Festival-goers can choose to explore and engage with these themes as part of the festival’s Day Pass Programme.

WOW founder Jude Kelly CBE will open the festival on the Friday morning, setting the tone for a day of big questions and bold ideas. Acclaimed author Laura Bates, founder of Everyday Sexism joins educator and speaker Ben Hurst, to dissect misogyny, its impact and how we challenge the cultures that allow it to thrive. Author and journalist Poorna Bell discusses what it means to build a meaningful life outside motherhood, whilst further sessions throughout the day will delve into issues such as the booming weight-loss drug phenomenon, exploring body image, diet culture and eating disorders, alongside the links between beauty pressures, power and sexual violence.

BBC Radio 1Xtra broadcaster Richie Brave will take part in a moving conversation about sibling loss as part of the Saturday Day Pass Programme, exploring the unique grief of losing someone who has been part of your story from the very beginning. Activist and artist Joeli Brearley brings her expertise and campaigning spirit to conversations about work, equality and parenthood whilst artist and educator Kay Rufai explores identity, vulnerability and self-expression through his playful Mask On, Mask Off workshop. Other sessions throughout the Saturday will explore topics such as bonesmashing and bigorexia, unpack   looksmaxxing and the pursuit of the ‘perfect’ face and body, and consider how to counter some of the pressures facing young people online. Additional speakers who will form part of the Saturday line up include comedian and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig and writer, speaker and model Maxine Heron and podcaster Freddie Feltham, host of What’s Left Podcast with more to be announced.

On the final day of the Festival, the Sunday Day Pass Programme will bring together acclaimed authors Aja Barber, Natasha Walter, Angela Saini and journalist and activist Zahra Joya to discuss what feminism can offer in turbulent times, exploring solidarity, inequality, power and possibilities for building a fairer future. Professor Joanna Bourke will join the conversation around “Himpathy”, whose pain gets centred, who gets humanised and how gender shapes the stories we tell about people who cause harm. The session will examine why men who harm women can so often receive sympathetic backstories, while victims are pushed out of the frame. Further sessions will feature performances by poet Hollie McNish as part of her 2027 UK tour, musician, artist, writer and activist Jordan Stephens will discuss masculinity, mental health, identity and change. 

Throughout the weekend there’ll be music, joyful pop ups, laughter and ways to get involved - more to be announced.

Headlining the Friday night in the Royal Festival Hall, WOW presents two of the most influential names in gender equity, French activist and author Gisèle Pelicot and US activist and founder of the #MeToo movement Tarana Burke who will share the stage for the first time in a conversation hosted by WOW Founder Jude Kelly. As the world marks ten years since the MeToo hashtag sparked a global movement, Burke and Pelicot will explore how shame begins to change sides, and what it takes to build a world where justice is possible. The headline events for Saturday and Sunday are to be announced. A second headline event on Saturday night will be announced in the coming months. 

Founded by Jude Kelly, WOW is a global alliance of 33 partners working together to drive an equal and inclusive future for women, girls and non-binary people. Since its inception in 2010, WOW has delivered 150 festivals and programmes, across 71 places and six continents, inspiring millions of participants to take action and make change. 

Jude Kelly, said: “We are delighted to be bringing the WOW Festival back to London in 2027 for what will be a truly unforgettable festival – bringing thousands of people of all genders together to explore how to imagine and build an equal world. For more than 15 years, WOW - Women of the World has brought people together in cities across the world, from Sydney to Karachi and Rio, to have meaningful and open conversations. As always, we'll be discussing the most critical subjects of our time alongside moments of pure joy and celebration.”

Attracting five million people worldwide to date, WOW has supported thousands of activists, brought previously taboo subjects into mainstream dialogue and acted as a catalyst for the launch and success of countless campaigns. WOW's unique methodology connects a diverse range of people and audiences to a multitude of stories and perspectives, both informing and galvanising them to make positive change, including through WOW 365, a Membership programme for supporters to stay connected to WOW all year round, belong to the global WOW community and help make WOW's work possible. 

After attending a WOW event 64% take action and 84% of people feel a gender equal world is possible compared to just 58% who haven't attended. Upcoming 2026 festivals and events include WOW Cairns in Australia this September, Day of the Girl celebrations in London and Brisbane, Reclaim the Night in Rotherham in November, and WOW Kathmandu in December.  

WOW London 2027 is supported by The WOW Foundation’s Global Founding Partner Bloomberg. Tarana Burke's participation is made possible with support from All In.

ENDS 

For further information please contact:

Kate Hassell kate@breadandbutterpr.uk 

Ella Gold ella@breadandbutterpr.uk 

LISTINGS 

WOW LONDON 2027 FESTIVAL 

5 - 7 March 2027, Southbank Centre 

Day passes available for Friday 5th July, Saturday 6 March and Sunday 7 March 2027

Early Bird £35 / Full price £45 (concessions available)

Tickets on sale now

Many events will be BSL Interpreted and Live Captioned

6 March 2027

Royal Festival Hall

WOW: Gisèle Pelicot & Tarana Burke In Conversation 

Tickets from £10

Tickets on sale now

BSL Interpreted and Live Captioned

French to English simultaneous translation

WOW Think Ins

18 September at Havas Village London

About The WOW Foundation 

The WOW Foundation was created by Jude Kelly CBE in 2018 to run the global movement that is WOW - Women of the World Festivals. The Festivals began in the UK in 2010, launched by Kelly at the Southbank Centre London, where she was Artistic Director, to celebrate women and girls, taking a frank look at what prevents them from achieving their potential, raising awareness globally of the issues they face, and discussing solutions together. 

To date, WOW has reached six million people in 45 locations on six continents, in locations including Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Somaliland, the UK and the USA. 

Over the last 15 years the Festivals have developed a reputation as a space for world renowned artists, activists, thinkers and performers including Angela Davis, Malala Yousafzai, Annie Lennox, Patrick Stewart, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Salma Hayek, to come and participate, alongside thousands of women and girls who don’t have public profiles but are doing amazing things. WOW provides platforms for people of all kinds, changes attitudes, brings communities together and provides a unique space for people to work together towards gender equity in their own communities.

One example of the Festival’s impact came in 2015, with the founding of the Women’s Equality Party by Sandi Toksvig and Catherine Mayer. 

In 2018 Kelly left the Southbank Centre to run The WOW Foundation full time as a charity working to build, convene and sustain a global movement that believes a gender equal world is possible and desirable through festivals and empowering women and girls. The unique festival model creates numerous pathways for participants to take part in WOW projects, amplify their own causes, or start new initiatives which have a wide impact on communities. It is the biggest, most comprehensive and most significant festival dedicated to presenting work by women and promoting equity for women and girls. In 2025 we launched WOW 365, a Membership programme for supporters to stay connected to WOW all year round, belong to the global WOW community and help make WOW's work possible.

WOW Festival was originally produced and presented by the Southbank Centre. 

The President of WOW - Women of the World is Her Majesty The Queen. 

About Bloomberg  

Bloomberg is a global leader in business and financial information, delivering trusted data, news, and insights that bring transparency, efficiency, and fairness to markets. The company helps connect influential communities across the global financial ecosystem via reliable technology solutions that enable our customers to make more informed decisions and foster better collaboration.

About the Southbank Centre

The Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest multi-arts centre and engages the most diverse audiences of any performing arts organisation in the UK. Our biggest venue, the Royal Festival Hall (2,700 seats) is the lasting legacy of the 1951 Festival of Britain and the ambition and values of that project – that arts, ideas, innovation and culture can heal communities and should be available and accessible to everyone – are still our guiding principles today. The Southbank Centre is uniquely able to offer a wide-ranging, inclusive and world-class artistic programme spanning contemporary visual arts, music, dance, performance, literature, comedy and spoken word across the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, the Hayward Gallery and our free spaces. We are also home to the National Poetry Library, the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP), two resident organisations (Kinetika Bloco and Tomorrow’s Warriors) and six resident orchestras (Aurora Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Philharmonia Orchestra).