From the 5th to the 7th of April 2025, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), in collaboration with the WOW Foundation and the British Council, presents the third installment of WOW - Women of the World Festival in Athens, the world's largest event for women, femininities and non-binary people. Since 2010, when the first festival was held in London, WOW has come to number more than 100 festivals and events attended by more than five million people in 45 locations across six continents.
Following the extremely positive response of the public to the two previous events at the SNFCC, WOW Athens has now been established as the most inclusive and most prominent festival in Greece focusing on promoting gender equality and attempting to raise public awareness of the obstacles currently facing women and non-binary people in all areas of their lives.
The opening event of this year's festival, The WOW Show with Jude Kelly, will take place on Monday, February 24, 2025, at 20.30, at the GNO Alternative Stage. Following a tour of UK towns and cities, WOW Founder and award-winning theater director Jude Kelly is coming to Athens to converse with three women about the difficult, and often daunting, journey towards gender equality. Kelly will share the stage with Katerina Athanasiadou, Vanessa Veneti and Katerina Vrana, three amazing women who have challenged stereotypes and gone against the tide. At The WOW Show, they will share with the audience their personal stories, each one a source of inspiration and hope for change.
Katerina Athanasiadou, best known as "the grandma of Kypseli," will recount how she undertook to raise little Maria to help out her mother, Sandra, an immigrant from Ghana, focusing on the difficulties she's facing in her struggle to adopt her and highlighting the power of female solidarity.
Transgender activist Vanessa Veneti will share with the public the story of her legal battle to have the right to communicate with her daughter and will discuss with Jude Kelly the topical issue of transgender people's parental rights.
Popular stand-up comedian Katerina Vrana will talk about how she did not allow her unanticipated disability to influence her as a woman and as an artist but managed to turn it into a source of strength, tapping her sense of humor as her primary tool.
Jude Kelly, Founder of The WOW Foundation, said: "I'm excited to come to Athens for The WOW Show. Wherever WOW is in the world, the thing I enjoy most is meeting local heroines and unearthing stories of the incredible things people are doing in their communities. It's WOW's 15th anniversary in 2025, and although we are far from having a gender equal society, there is still a huge amount to celebrate. It's an evening for everyone, so grab your friends and family and show up!"
SNFCC Lead Donor: Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)
WOW Athens 2025 Major Sponsor: Uber
The WOW Athens 2025 festival is co-funded by the European Union through the Program "Attica" 2021-2027.
