WOW Rotherham

WOW Rotherham launched in 2022, co-created by women, girls and non-binary people across the borough, produced by FLUX Rotherham and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. As part of Rotherham’s Children’s Capital of Culture 2025 initiative, the Festival has become a joyful and vital celebration of gender equality, community creativity and resilience in South Yorkshire.

From its first edition in Clifton Park, WOW Rotherham stood out for its colour, energy and inclusivity. In 2023, 2024 and 2025, WOW Rotherham has moved to take over the town centre and continued to grow – featuring live music, spoken word, panel discussions, and fun, family-friendly activities. 

Each year, over 3000 people attended a variety of workshops, talks and pop-up performances that took place in local businesses, Rotherham Minster and beyond, including an art trail featuring various outdoor performances as well as the world’s first mobile poetry in a burger van, acrobatic theatre performers, Compact Disco and Bootworks Theatre Company. Discussions at WOW Rotherham have explored some of the most pressing issues impacting gender equality, such as parenting and childcare, work and skills, diversity and a warm welcome, body positivity, safety, gender identity and sexuality, and mental health and wellbeing.

The programme is shaped by local WOWsers – a team of trainee festival makers aged between 16-25. 

WOW Rotherham’s impact extends beyond the annual Festival. Through its year-round community engagement, creative commissions, and youth development, WOW Rotherham is helping to create a town where young people – particularly girls and non-binary youth – can see themselves as leaders, creators, and change-makers.