WHEN a major festival comes to Bradford for the first time next month, a number of local students will have had a big say on its line up.

The WOW Festival will be a weekend celebrating the achievements of women, and is being held in Kala Sangam arts centre from November 5 to 6.

And on Friday November 4 there will be a day for invited students from Bradford’s schools. Much of this day, as well as a chunk of the main festival, has been shaped by pupils from several different secondaries, working with festival organisers to make sure the event truly reflect the city.

Girls from Bradford schools including Grange Technology College, Dixons City Academy and Belle Vue Girls school have been among those planning for the festival from the very start through its Wowzer programme of young volunteers.

One of the groups, the Brave Young Souls group from Grange Technology College, spoke to the Telegraph & Argus about their involvement with shaping the festival.

They were set up as a group of young activists by former teachers Sally Barker and Lauren Hunt, and last year they won a Diana Award for their work to raise awareness of equality issues.

The members are Samirah Khan, Hanna Ali, and Amani Akhter, all in Year 13.

Samirah said: “We were one of the groups who applied, and we were given a grant of £500 to run a project within the festival.

“Every Wednesday afternoon we meet up with the other girls and come up with ideas.

“Our plan is to have a flash mob in City Park, we’ll be wearing t shirts that are printed with stereotypes of girls in the city.

The group had hoped Malala Yousafzai, the girl who was shot for standing up to the Taliban, would attend the festival.

Samirah said: “We got in touch with her but she said she was already attending another event that weekend. We’d sent her a video message and she got back saying she had never been sent a video message before and wanted to meet us.

“The festival will have workshops about things like body image, which is something that girls don’t always talk about. Hopefully it will bring about discussion.”

David Jowle, communications manager, said: “This group is a real inspiration to a lot of students and staff here. They are looking at topics that are quite difficult and challenging, and they always do it with a smile on their face.

During the festival, funded by the Spirit of 2012, there will be discussions about how women can feel unsafe in the city and pressures to dress a certain way, be it not wearing revealing clothing or being told not to wear burkas.

There will also be a Beyonce dance class, under 10s feminist session, live music and talks by local young sports women.

For more information, or to buy tickets, visit southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/wow-bradford