Women of the World Festival seeks a global stage in Beijing

The Women of the World Festival will make its China debut in Beijing's Tianqiao Performing Arts Center this September.

The monthlong WOW event's extensive programs include exhibitions, performances, workshops and forums, which will celebrate women's achievements and explore the challenges that women are still facing today.

"When I launched the festival in 2010, I wanted to mark the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.

"Now, it has become the largest arts event for women in the world, which is far beyond what I have expected in the beginning," says Jude Kelly, artistic director of London's Southbank Centre, among Britain's largest cultural institutions. She was in Beijing to attend the opening ceremony at Tianqiao Performing Arts Center on April 15.

"Although the WOW festival started in London, it's not a British thing, it's a global thing. It belongs to China, belongs to Kathmandu, belongs to Pakistan and belongs to Australia, anywhere that the girls and women, boys and men want to gather to speak of what the future could look like and how to make that future happen," Kelly says.

So far, the festival has been held in 20 cities, including Melbourne and New York as well as the main venue in London, and over 20,000 people have attended the event.

In March 2016, the UK-China Workshop for Senior Arts Center and Theater Management was held at the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center.