A TWO-WEEK festival will be held in York next month packed with talks, workshops, gigs and performances all intending to empower, inform and celebrate women.

The annual York International Women’s Festival will take place from March 1 to 14 to centre around International Women’s Day, celebrated globally on March 8.

The festival will feature a wide variety of events designed to entertain, educate, share skills, raise awareness and stimulate debate for women and communities in and around York.

Rose Drew, a member of the festival’s organising committee, said: “We have had a large increase in the number of people wanting to put on events for the festival this year.

“There is something for everyone."

Kicking off the festival on March 1 will be an event called ‘Resurrection Women - Men Too!’ with poet and storyteller F. Mary Callan performing her poetic insights into the Resurrection story.

It will take place at St Paul’s Church, Holgate Road, at 7.30pm.

Jessica Swale’s vibrant play, ‘Blue Stockings’, will also be staged on March 1, at 7.30pm, at York Theatre Royal Studio. This follows four young women at Cambridge in 1896. A vote will determine if they will be allowed to graduate and change the future of education for themselves and those who will follow.

Among the many other events set to take place during the festival is York’s Little Festival of Live Music, on March 4, from 3pm, at the The Black Swan Inn, in Peasholme Green.

This will be a one-off mini-music event to celebrate women in music.

A Stand Up Performance Workshop will be held on March 5 at 2pm at Briar House, Club Chambers, in Museum Street.

This is a workshop for women wanting to try or develop their skills in stand up comedy, spoken word or poetry performance and public speaking.

YIWF was founded in 1993 and is now run by a small committee of volunteers.

For more about this year’s festival, including the full list and timings of events, visit www.yiwf.co.uk