International Women's Day events in London

Celebrate all things female on Saturday March 8 at one of these girl-powered London events affiliated to or inspired by International Women's Day
Malala: (AP Photo/Jessica Rinaldi, File); Angela Lansbury: Johan Persson;
Shalinee Singh6 March 2014

FESTIVALS: Women of the World (WOW) festival and Wowzers festival fringe

WOW festival: Southbank Centre, Mar 5-9
Wowzers: LSE Student Union, Mar 8-9

More than 300 speakers and performers from around the world take part in this festival of 120 events, including talks, comedy and concerts, to mark International Women’s Day. Anti-Taliban shot schoolgirl campaigner Malala Yousafzai, designer Vivienne Westwood and former glamour model Katie Price are on the eclectic line-up, along with Stephen Lawrence’s mother, Sarah Brown and Grayson Perry. The Wowzers festival, an independent, community-led fringe event running in parallel with WOW, is free to attend and offers a diverse range of participatory events from workshops to interactive talks, as well as entertainment from musicians, poets and cabaret acts.

WALK: Walk in Her Shoes

Tate Britain, Sat Mar 8

Women-focused humanitarian organisation CARE International hosts a walk (for men and women alike) to support women around the world enduring injustice and inequality. Leading the walk from Tate Britain to the Southbank Centre will be Dr Helen Pankhurst and her daughter Laura, direct descendants of suffragettes Emmeline and Sylvia Pankhurst. The Sylvia Pankhust exhibition at Tate Britain continues until March 23.

COMEDY: Stand Up Women

The Bedford, Sat Mar 8

Presented by South London Amnesty International Groups, this annual event gives a platform to a host of witty women in support of International Women’s Day. This year, the line-up includes comedy writer and performer Sara Pascoe and Funny Women Award-winner Lara A King. Tickets are a snip at just £10.

Observational comedian:Sara Pascoe

ART: Women’s History Month: Hannah Höch and Carolee Schneeman

Hannah Höch: Whitechapel Gallery, until Sun Mar 23
Carolee Schneeman: Hales Gallery, until Sat Apr 12

A must-see retrospective of pioneering photomonteur Hannah Höch’s career is part of an extensive Women’s History Month programme, which also presents Water Light/Water Needle, the first solo exhibition in London of work by Carolee Schneemann, whose work spans film, photography, painting and performance art.

TALKS: Tech City International Women’s Day

Lyst Studios, Sat Mar 8

An evening of food, craft beers and wine with demos from 20 women based in and around east London’s Silicon Roundabout working in technology and the creative industries. The event also acts as a platform to raise money for Solace Women’s Aid, a charity which supports women who suffer from abuse. Men and women both welcome to attend.

THEATRE: Nirbhaya

Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, until Wed Mar 12

Writer/director Yael Farber and her small cast have developed an uncompromising piece of theatre, which made its debut at the Edinburgh Festival in 2013. The impassioned production tackles the brutal rape and subsequent death in December 2012 of 23-year-old medical student Jyoti Singh Pandey, known to the media as “Nirbhaya”, or “fearless”.

DANCE & MUSIC: Flamenco Festival London

Sadlers Wells, until Sat Mar 15

Spanish star Sara Baras opens this festival of dance and music with her show La Pepa, inspired by the Spanish Constitution of 1812. Other notable names include Catalan singer Miguel Poveda, popular dancer Farruquito and hotly-tipped newcomer Ángel Múñoz.

STREET ART: Femme Fierce Leake Street All-Female Takeover

Leake Street Tunnel, Sat Mar 8

Over 100 international female graffiti artists will be attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest spray paint mural while also raising money for Breast Cancer Care. The event is the centrepiece of the ten-day Femme Fierce Festival, which is billed as the largest all-female street art event in the UK.

FILM: Bird’s Eye View Film Festival Gala

BFI Southbank, Sat Mar 8

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Although the festival itself runs April 8-13, organisers are launching the programme with a special Women’s Day screening of Kristy Guevara-Flanagan’s fun documentary Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines. Challenging the male-dominated superhero genre, the film is an entertaining study of society’s anxieties about strong women.

THEATRE: Blithe Spirit

Gielgud Theatre, booking until Sat Jun 7

Iconic actress Dame Angela Lansbury returns to the West End for the first time in nearly forty years, reprising her 2009 Tony Award-winning role as the clairvoyant Madame Arcati in Noël Coward’s other-worldly comedy.

MUSIC: Benefit Gig for Haiti

Crossroads Women’s Centre, Sat Mar 8

Ten years since the coup in in Haiti, charity The Global Women’s Strike is holding a fundraiser to mark ten years of women’s resistance to occupation and repression. Performers include dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson and blues band Kat & Co. All proceeds from the gig will go to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund and Dr Aristide’s Medical School.

COMEDY: Bridget Christie – A Bic for Her

Soho Theatre, Mar 11-19

Inspired by the launch of pastel-coloured Bic biros ‘for her’, Christie’s inventive, feminist-themed show tackles the vagaries of everyday sexism and won her the 2013 Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show.

Cool things to do in London this weekend (Mar 14-16)

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