The Brisbane Feminist Festival

Managing Editor, Constance Allan, speaks to Maggie Mackenzie about One Woman Project’s upcoming Brisbane Feminist Festival. 

Can you tell me about Brisbane Feminist Festival (BFF) and what it embodies?

The Brisbane Feminist Festival is an annual event focused on celebrating and uplifting the voices in our community and instigating conversations around intersectional feminism. We’ve unfortunately not been able to host the event for the last two years due to Covid, but we’re beyond excited to be able to bring BFF back in full force this year. 

Over the course of two days, BFF hopes to embody inclusion, intersectionality, and community. We’re dedicated to bringing together people with different life experiences and voices, highlighting the variety of issues that are currently impacting marginalised communities, discussing solutions, and building a more understanding and empathetic community to create and inspire change. 

Images Courtesy of One Woman Project

Can you speak to the chosen themes? Why are these significant this year in particular? 

For sure! Our themes this year are Continuous Learning, Meaningful Growth, and Radical Love. Continuous learning is a core part of who we are as feminists. Everything is constantly changing, and we must be able to hold ourselves accountable and responsible to actively engage with those changes. Meaningful growth examines our want to authentically grow our community, but I think it also touches on those values in continuous learning as well, in how we continually and meaningfully grow our understandings of the world. Radical Love is sort of the glue that ties all our themes together. A lot of us agreed that love is the core part of who we are as activists, it drives our passions, involvements, and wants to learn and do more. 

What can attendees expect from BFF and what can they look forward to? 

The event kicks off on Zoom on Saturday 15th October with three awesome panels on Feminism in the Arts, Domestic and Family Violence, and Feminism in Conflicts. The best thing about BFF this year is that we have so many options for people to choose from, so that even if you’re not based in Meanjin (Brisbane) you’re still about to engage with the event. 

The in-person day will be held on the Sunday, and offers everything from marketing stalls and entertainment, to interactive workshops on Deconstructing Sex and Shame, Fashion and Capitalism, a number of panels on Disability Issues and rights, Prison Abolition, Healthcare and Marginalisation, and of course two very inspiring keynote speakers. 

Images Courtesy of One Woman Project

Over the weekend you’ll be able to hear from people in the community like Maggie Mun, a First Nations activist campaigning for Prison Abolition and Transformative Justice, Daile Kelleher, the CEO of Children by Choice, or Miranda Park, a PHD candidate and our very own Publications Coordinator, talking about Feminist Activism in the Jazz industry, and so much more! 

What are you hoping people take away from BFF? 

I think at the end of the day we’re hoping that people walk away from BFF with a greater understanding of the current issues our society and many communities are facing, a desire to learn more, and a love for the community around them. 

Perhaps these workshops and panels will reignite a passion for activism, or spark conversations people hadn’t ever thought about. Or maybe they’ll open people’s eyes to ideologies and beliefs they’ve been unknowingly internalising. 

Images Courtesy of One Woman Project

These realisations and understandings are so important to our own feminist journeys, so I hope that attendees will use BFF as a chance to build on those feminist toolkits they’ve been working with, and walk away with a better understanding of how to achieve collective change. 

For those who cannot attend, how can they support BFF?

For those who can’t attend BFF but would still love to support the event, we’d greatly appreciate any and all sponsors! If you know of any businesses or organisations who would be up to promoting and sponsoring BFF send them our way at bff@onewomanproject.org!

And don’t forget that the content doesn’t stop after BFF! If you’re interested in learning more about gender and social justice, you can follow One Woman Project on Instagram and Facebook or get involved! We’re always looking for passionate volunteers to join the fight!

Event Details:

• Saturday 15th October (Zoom): 9:00am- 2:15pm

• Sunday 16th October (Events on Oxlade, Meanjin): 9:00am-5:30pm

WORDS: CONSTANCE ALLAN & MAGGIE MACKENZIE
PHOTOGRAPHY: ONE WOMAN PROJECT