The Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre are delighted to once again be hosting celebrations for International Women’s Day on Saturday 5 March.
An annual fixture in the local arts calendar, the festival of celebration will consist of free workshops, talks, crafts, performances and more, to mark the International Day of the Woman after last years celebrations were held digitally due to the restrictions and closure posed by Covid-19.
A highlight of International Women’s Day at The Riverfront is always the panel discussion and question and answer session with inspiring local women. This year is no different and sees Aleighcia Scott, Danielle Webb, Stephanie Roberts and Grace Quantock take to the Studio Theatre stage to discuss women working in the creative industries and breaking the bias.
The day’s activities will also include the book launch for local author Sylvia Mason’s second book ‘Mary Frost: Wife, Mother, Chartist’ after her first book ‘Every Woman Remembered: Daughters of Newport in the Great War’ which was published in 2018 with great success.
Newport Women’s forum will be at the event launching their 2022 bursary scheme which, for the last 26 years, has been supporting women in Newport to achieve their dreams with a bursary of up to £1500.
Alongside that, Clare Potter a bi-lingual Welsh poet, will be running creative writing workshops. Clare’s practice focuses on wellbeing through writing and will be a fun and creative way to express yourself.
Other workshops across the day come from Carmela Gianfagna and her Qi Gong workshop titled 'Unifying Mind, Body and Breath for Inner Peace & Calm. Local mosaic artist Stephanie Roberts will run a presentation and Q and A about her Street Fairy project which addresses issues related to safety and the wellbeing of self and others in public spaces. She will also run a workshop where you can create your own Street fairy. The Circus of Positivity will be offering free taster sessions featuring a variety of circus skills.
Running throughout the whole day will be performances from celebrated Welsh musicians and community groups including The 3 O'Clock Club, Genevieve Gyseman as well the Oasis Global Choir and the Coffee and Laughs Group.
Remake will also be on hand to teach people how to re upholster or breathe life into pre-loved items.
Sally-Anne Evans, Community Arts Development Officer at The Riverfront comments:
‘We are so excited to return to celebrating International Women’s Day in person at The Riverfront this year. It is one of our favourite days seeing so many community friends together in our building and having a showcase of women sharing skills and celebrating together. It is a fantastic opportunity for people to come together and share ideas, as well as celebrate within our community.’
In addition to the talks, performances and workshops there will be craft stalls for visitors to peruse and to purchase unique locally made goods, along with opportunities to craft and create for both children and adults. Guests are welcome to stay all day and enjoy a variety of events or come and go at their own leisure.
International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively, everywhere.
International Women’s Day at The Riverfront will run from 10am-5pm, all events and activities are free and no booking is required. For more information and details about the day and all that is happening at The Riverfront for IWD visit newportlive.co.uk/IWD. You can also keep up to date with the celebrations on social media using #IWD2022.
