WOW Cairns Festival 2026

Saturday 12 September - Festival Program

WOW Marketplace and Community Stage

Saturday 12 September
9.00am – 3.00pm 
Bulmba-ja Arts Centre, Cairns
FREE

The WOW Cairns Festival Marketplace is free for all to attend!  Featuring local artisans, women-led enterprises, community groups and service providers, performances and free workshops.  Come along and grab something to eat, be serenaded by a diverse range of Cairns creative talent, learn a few new dance moves and definitely do some shopping!  

WOW Saturday - Day Pass

9.00am – 5.00pm
Bulmba-ja Arts Centre, Cairns
$45pp 

A jam packed pack, full day program including panel conversations, performances, visual arts, workshops, WOW Bites: where you get to hear from everyday heroes and the WOW Healing Space where you can chill out and do some weaving all talks, conversations, workshops and more!

Panels & Conversations

9.00am – 10.45am
2046: When Women Run the World!

The year is 2046, twenty years since the great societal, environmental and financial crash, known today as the ‘Great Cock Up’ after the actions of the now disgraced group of septuagenarian male world leaders in 2026! Since then, when traditional lands and countries across the globe started electing women-led governments to re-build and re-frame their societies, putting citizens back at the heart of decision-making and power-broking, the planet and its people have witnessed extraordinary change. Hear from four leading Cairns based change makers on what FNQ looks like in 2046 as a consequence, in a session facilitated by host of ABC Big Ideas Natasha Mitchell.

11.00am – 12.15pm

Body of Knowledge: Women’s Health, Bias & Being Believed
What would change if women and girls were believed the first time? Facilitated by Balveen Ajimal, Chief Executive Officer of Women’s Health and Equality Queensland, this conversation explores what women and girls deserve to know about their bodies, and why so many are still forced to fight for answers. Not just a conversation about health services, but about power, body literacy, cultural safety, access, shame, silence, and the lifelong impact of not being heard. How do we build health systems that trust, support and equip women and girls with the knowledge and confidence to advocate for themselves and each other?

1.00pm – 2.15pm

Enter the Safe Zone
What does safety really mean for women and girls — at home, at work, online, culturally, and in the places we move through every day?
Facilitated by Shaan Ross-Smith from the Be There Group, this conversation asks what it would look like to design safety into the way we live, gather, learn, work and belong. From culturally safe education spaces to streets, digital platforms and workplaces, Enter the Safe Zone invites us to think bigger than individual responsibility. How do we create homes, communities, systems and public spaces where women and girls do not have to shrink, self-edit or constantly scan for danger? 

9.30am // 11.00am // 2.45pm 

An audience favourite, WOW Bites are short talks, readings and soapbox moments on a wide range of subjects designed to inspire, engage and introduce new ideas from local women and festival guests.

WOW Bites