WOW Karachi 2017

The WOW – Women of the World festival celebrates women and girls around the world, and looks at the obstacles that stop them from achieving their potential. Gender inequality is a global problem, and a global network of festivals is an amazing and much needed opportunity to shine a light on the female perspective and provide a stage from which to underscore the unique vision and struggle of women within our society.

WOW was launched in 2010 at Southbank Centre in London by its Artistic Director Jude Kelly, to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s day and to start conversations on a wider scale with people from all walks of life. She has said “WOW is a festival because celebration creates optimism and optimism creates determination and energy that makes you feel anything is possible.” In the six years since its inception, WOW has grown into the largest women's festival network in the world, involving over a million people across five continents.

On 1 May 2016, Karachi became the first South Asian city to host a full scale Women of the World Festival - WOW Karachi. The festival brought together women from all over Pakistan and provoked conversations between politicians, community leaders, artists, activists, writers and entrepreneurs who discussed significant issues facing women today as well as celebrated and highlighted their achievements.

Now in its second year, WOW Karachi is being organised by the British Council and six local partner curating organisations, in collaboration with Southbank Centre. WOW curates an inclusive, empowering space that pushes at the boundaries of gender conventions, refusing to limit itself or the women and men who interact with it, by making it a space for everyone.  By pulling together diverse contributions from the wider community, WOWKHI draws upon a lived reality to inspire real change.  

This is done through a variety of programmes ranging from panel discussions on critical issues, a marketplace with food stalls and networking opportunities, bite-sized talks and readings on range of inspiring subjects, performances and art installations, speed mentoring, a series of workshops targeting the needs of the day, and short interactive sessions for children.

WOW Karachi 2017 is a place women can share their stories, share their feelings, learn new things and also have a lot of fun. The festival offers a variety of events that celebrate human potential, while carving out time and space for unique voices and visions as well as expression of cultural identity. The festival will take place on December 2 and 3, 2017 at the Alliance Francaise de Karachi from 11 am onwards.

For more details please follow the event page on Facebook.