April 13 is the first day of HER Festival, a nine-day celebration of those who identify as women, with 55 activations throughout Auckland.
The free festival promises “significant events, unique experiences, talks, workshops, sports, theatre, art and conversations”.
It’s the first festival of its kind in Aotearoa and is aimed at “creating a safe space” for all those who identify as women.
HER festival director Ella Mizrahi said HER would “provide a platform for women to connect, create and celebrate the length and breadth of what makes us, us”.
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“We are much stronger women, when we lift each other up.
“It feels incredibly important to create space for us to do that,” Mizrahi said.
The festival kicked off in the early hours of Thursday morning at Te Atatū Peninsula with a sunrise ceremony.
On Friday, sex education charity BRAVE would be holding “a free conversation around sex, consent, body autonomy” at Auckland Domain Wintergardens, for high school-aged girls only.
Also on Friday, there will be a DJ workshop at Freyberg Square, complete with a babysitting service should any attendees require it.
Louise Graham/Supplied
HER Festival kicks off on April 13 and runs for nine days.
On April 15, HER festival sponsor New Balance will be holding a 5km fun run at Silo Park as part of Run Riot.
Other activities on the day include rollerskating, self defence classes, touch rugby, yoga, boxing, Pilates, pole dancing, kickboxing and a session with OK Now Ladies.
Artists Judy Darragh and Yana Dombrowsky-M’Baye will be holding a Femme Art Workshop the next day, which will see attendees “collaborate together to make a giant piece of work that will be exhibited at Depot Art Space”.
The following week of activities includes a movie night at New Lynn Community Centre, a short film festival and a poetry slam with $5000 up for grabs.
New Balance/Supplied
Run Riot, held by New Balance, will be held at Silo Park.
On April 22, the festival will hold Into The Night, an “immersive walk” through Auckland CBD, while listening to the stories from the Prostitutes Collective, an organisation that supports sex workers.
The walk ends in Western Park, with “a dance party in the middle of the woods”.
Mizrahi said the idea for the festival started in the middle of the 2020 lockdown, when she was “thinking about who was the worst affected by the pandemic”.
“Spoiler alert – it was women.”
She said the festival was about “how to help build us all back up through connection and upskilling in a fun empowering way”.
The festival, which celebrates anyone who identifies as a woman, is in stark contrast to the scenes at Auckland’s Albert Park on March 25.
United Kingdom-based anti-transgender activist Posie Parker attempted to hold an event called Let Women Speak, but called it off early after a trans rights activist dumped a “litre of juice” on her.
A full programme of HER Festival events can be found here.
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