The Women of the World (WOW) Festival has made its way around to Melbourne this year, and will be hosted at the Footscray Community Arts Centre (FCAC).

The three-day event has an extensive program on offer including critical conversations, music, film and performances that celebrate women’s achievements and explore the challenges that are still faced today.

Speaking with Neos Kosmos, Jade Lillie, Director and CEO of FCAC said she is very excited to be organising such a world class event.

“I’m particularly excited about being part of an international network of 17 festivals across the world this year. I think it’s a really important time for Australia and a really important time for Melbourne to come together and really celebrate and explore the issues that are important for us as women, as men, as gender diverse folks; to think about the work that we have to do and also to celebrate the incredible women, men and people we have in this city,” Lillie said.

The festival is being delivered in association with the Southbank Centre London, where the first WOW festival was launched in 2011 by artistic director Jude Kelly. Since its inception, WOW has been identified as the largest network of women in the world, managing to engage and inspire over one million women across five continents, and cities in the US, Egypt, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the UK, and Australia.

Over 80 local and international speakers will be taking part ranging from activists and writers, to artists and educators. Headlining the event will be former leader of the Black Panther Party, Elaine Brown, along with keynote speakers Paola Balla, Elaine Brown, Mahogany Brown, Tania Cañas, Margaret Harvey, Jude Kelly, Jerril Rechter, Sadaf Saaz, Mallika Taneja and Zenith Virago, amongst others including author of The Good Greek Girl, Maria Katsonis.

Honoured to be a part of the stellar line-up as a representative of the Greek community, Katsonis, also an ambassador for beyondblue will be discussing her battle with depression.

“There’s a couple of things that I’m hoping to get across. One is the notion of career and ambition, and what that means for women today. It will be a reflection on how my career trajectory changed as a result of my illness, because for me the illness wasn’t just a once off, it’s ongoing,” she said, adding that it is a chance to portray a positive view of living with mental illness.

“Yes it’s hard, yes it’s tough, but you can live a purposeful and meaningful life. And the third aspect is about the power of one, which is something that has struck me since The Good Greek Girl; about the role you can play in giving voice to your story, which allows other people to express themselves through yours,” which she continues to experience firsthand.

Two years on since her memoir was released, Katsonis says people are still reaching out to her in connection with her story.

Along with mental health, conversations will focus on a range of current issues including women in political leadership; indigenous matriarchy; health, sport and leadership; death walking; ageing in the LGBTIQ community; refugee and asylum advocacy and self-determination; and female-centred business models, to name a few.

While the format is similar in each host city, Lillie says the themes have been curated to be as relevant as possible.

“We acknowledge that every place is unique and every local context is different, so there’s definitely a flexibility there to make sure that the content and the conversations are very relevant locally.”

And with Melbourne’s west boasting 130 different cultural groups and 150 languages, Lillie says the FCAC couldn’t be a more ideal location to represent contemporary Australia.

“I think at FCAC we really position ourselves as the place where important conversations happen. What we’ve tried to do is really step back and think about the conversations that are not necessarily being had; who are the people that we want to hear from?”

With something for everyone, including kids’ events, WOW will be brought to an epic close with a free concert expected to draw some 3,000 people featuring Sampa the Great, Mojo Juju, DJ MzRizk & Thando, Electric Fields, Sugar Fed Leopards, and Black Sistaz.

“We all need to understand how we can be more aware of gender in all of its forms. I really hope women, men, gender diverse are all feeling super welcome for this festival because it’s really for everybody.”

Women of the World Festival Melbourne will take place at Footscray Community Arts Centre (45 Moreland Street, Footscray, VIC) from Thursday 23 March – Saturday 25 March. To view the program in full and purchase tickets, visit footscrayarts.com/