In May, everyone will come together on The Cinder Moor in Woodhouse to build a barn like no other in just 24 hours!

Following this  spectacular 24-hour barn build by 300 women and non-binary people from across West Yorkshire, The WOW Barn will become a new temporary event space for events and activities during May, including the first ever WOW Festival in Leeds – The WOW Barn Festival – on 13 May.

Women Of the World have organised WOW Festivals across the world to celebrate women, girls and non-binary people, and tackle the subjects that matter most to them. From race and money to ageing and motherhood, there will be something for everyone including talks, gigs, open mic sessions, delicious food and market stalls.

The WOW Barn is an accessible and inclusive space where everyone is welcome to join the movement. Full programme and line-up to be announced!

How are we allocating places?

This project is for the whole of West Yorkshire. Barn Raisers will come from every corner of the region (Leeds, Bradford, Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefield). We will be allocating spaces based on geography to ensure we get a good spread. Where districts are oversubscribed spaces will be offered by lottery. You’ll need to attend a Bootcamp and come to the ReBootcamp to receive a briefing and PPE.

Key information

The build will take place from 6pm Sunday 30 April 2023 to 6pm on Monday 1 May 2023 on the Cinder Moor in Woodhouse, Leeds. You will be given a shift within the 24 hours to build a Barn like no other!

The Barn will then play host to a festival on Saturday 13 May 2023. We would like to invite you to a private view of an exhibition that day from 9:30am to 10:30am, then do stick around for the day for talks, workshops, performances – full programme to be announced shortly. Celebrate the Barn Raisers together.

If you don’t have construction experience

As a novice, you’ll need to attend:

• a bootcamp at Leeds College of Building
• a REbootcamp on week commencing 24 April (a short briefing with all Barnraisers)
• a 6hr shift between 30 April to 1 May to take part in the build

Bootcamps

There are 5 Bootcamps to choose from for Novices, they all take place at Leeds College of Building North Street Campus (North Street, Leeds, LS2 7QT).

You’ll be able to select from:

• Bootcamp 1: Thurs 2 Mar from 3pm to 6pm
• Bootcamp 2: Sat 18 March from 10am to 1pm
• Bootcamp 3: Thurs 30 Mar from 3pm to 6pm
• Bootcamp 4: Thurs 6 Apr from 6pm to 9pm
• Bootcamp 5: Sat 15 Apr from 10am to 1pm

There is 1 online briefing available for Professionals on Thu 20 Apr, 6:30pm to 8pm.

Please sign up to this session if you are confident in traditional joinery, cutting wood, mallets, tongue and groove joints, using a drill, site safety, safe manual handling (moving heavy bits of wood around safely), and working at height on scaffolds.

All Barn Raisers will be invited back for The Barn REbootcamp. This will be a chance for all the Barn Raisers to meet, refresh their knowledge, receive a briefing and pick up PPE. This will take place on Mon 24 Apr, 6:30pm to 8pm at the Esther Simpson Building, University of Leeds.

All Barn Raisers will have their portrait taken as part of the project. These will all be displayed by the Barn as part of an exhibition that will open to the public on Sat 13 May as part of a day long festival.

Credits