A FESTIVAL celebrating the achievements of women and girls gets underway in Bradford this weekend, featuring a host of women who hail from the city as well as nationally and internationally recognised trailblazers.

The Women of the World - WOW - festival at Kala Sangam, funded by the Spirit of 2012, began with a Schools' Day today and will continue over the weekend with a packed line-up.

The festival is an annual event held at the Southbank Centre in London, but in recent years has spread to other cities across the world. This year's programme includes a line-up of more than 45 different events, covering a range of hard-hitting issues including body confidence, everyday activism and environmental racism.

Among those on the bill this year are poet Kate Tempest and transgender model and activist Munroe Bergdorf.

This year marks the final year of funding allocated for the WOW festival in Bradford, but it's hoped it could return in the future.

Saliha Rubani, WOW Bradford programme, said: "We started in 2016, when we first got the funding from Spirit of 2012, we knew straight away that it would be funded for three years. What's happened recently, is because it has been so successful, WOW are looking to fund it again, not in 2019, but after, so maybe 2020."

She added: "We were very lucky to get three years funding in Bradford and it has made a really big difference because we have been able to learn every year and there's a lot to be said about building that sort of momentum, especially with our community groups that get involved and our Schools' Days."

At the heart of the festival is the idea they are planned and owned by the cities they are held in. Thinkins were held earlier in the year to help shape the programme, giving a sense of ownership to groups across Bradford.

Speaking about the long-term impact, Saliha said: "It's always about action and what you can do after the festival. None of the WOWs are just about having a good time those three days - it's about looking at those challenges and barriers.

"The first year, the girls that volunteered said there was nowhere in the centre of town, a social space for them. They ended up opening up a social space at the bottom of Ivegate called Speaker's Corner and it's still there today.

"That was a massive impact that directly came from WOW, so it needed us all to get together in the same place at the same time and say 'we all want this, what are we going to do'. To get everybody together saying the same thing and working on it together was really powerful and that directly came from WOW."

Tickets for Saturday and Sunday day passes are still available on the day at Kala Sangam. Day passes are £8 and concessions are £6. The festival starts from 9am on Saturday and 10am on Sunday. Visitors are welcome any time during the day.