The annual event arrived in York for its biggest celebration yet.

The city-wide programme came to York from the 1st to the 8th of March to celebrate all things women, and was the city’s largest event yet. With the 2026 theme being Weaving Women’s Stories, the coordinators worked to ensure the events were accessible financially and to those living with disabilities. The majority of events were free, with the schedule providing varied events each day – ranging from workshops, film screenings, and even a flash mob calling for the end of gender-based violence.

The coordinating team began their work last September to make the event a success, coming up with a new theme or tag line to set the tone for the focus of the week. This year, the theme represented a range of complex events that encourage participants to question, learn, and embrace each element of female experience and women’s place in society.

Ann, a long-time coordinator of York International Women’s Week, said:

“International Women’s Day is a time to highlight gender inequality and to celebrate what women have achieved, and to work towards general justice for all. York International Women’s Week attempts to have a diverse range of events that highlight women’s challenges in many parts of the world and bring women together to have fun, take time for themselves and each other. You never know what will happen when women get together.

We hope that women will be energised to carry on or change a little bit of the world, that we may engender a bit of hope, and a sense of being included.”

A number of the events allow attendees to get a feel for communities elsewhere in the world, such as the presence of ‘Mbele’ – a charity working against social inequalities in Kenya and Uganda. Led by two women, Stefani and Elena, they work to provide education, health, and community strengthening. By collaborating with NGO’s, Mbele has been able to visit rural areas and advocate for the opening of schools, ensuring more children gain access to education and literacy. Mbele’s work also includes teaching women financial independence and trades that allow them to earn an income within a safe and supportive space.

Elena, co-founder of Mbele, said:

“Mbele means ‘going forward’ in English, and we chose that name because we really want to work with the community to move forward. We have a women empowerment project in Kenya, but we also have healthcare and education projects.

Our biggest project right now is trying to construct a school in Uganda as most of the children are not educated and a big part of the population doesn’t know how to read or write. We want to start changing that reality by creating a primary school that will have around 500 children in a small village called Ikoba.”

Discussing her contribution to York International Women’s Week, Elena said:

“This has been a great opportunity to let people know about us and also raise awareness that women in every country have different struggles, different lives and different things that matter to us.

My hope is that the people I work with become really independent and have proper control of their lives. The dream is that they don’t need us anymore, actually, and that our projects become theirs to run.”

Not only are the experiences of women as a collective explored through the event, but also their individual impacts on the earth. This was explored through events such as ‘HERSTORY’ and ‘Motherhood on a Dying Planet’ – which add to the layered topics tackled in the York-based event. The programme overall displays womanhood as something that is not always easy to navigate, but can be supported and validated within the community.

To find out more about York International Women’s Week, visit: YIWW | York International Women’s Week