From left: Provo Mayor John Curtis, Courtney Kendrick, Allison Lew, Mindy Gledhill and Susan Kreuger-Barber speak at Provo Women's Day in 2016. Curtis will speak again at the Mayor's Breakfast and Lecture Series this upcoming Provo Women's Day. (Provo City Mayor's Office)
Provo is hosting its second annual Provo Women’s Day on March 8. The event includes many activities throughout the entire day, nearly all of which are free and available for RSVP.
Whitney Booth, Public Relations Officer at the Provo City Mayor’s Office, said Provo is hosting the event in celebration of International Women’s Day.
“This event is actually huge in a lot of other countries,” Booth said. “It’s not a widely celebrated event in the U.S., and we thought we wanted to be a little progressive and celebrate here in Provo.”
Participants in the 2016 Provo Women's Day gather at Big Door for a screening of the film 'Suffragette.' This upcoming Provo Women's Day once again includes this activity. (Provo City Mayor's Office)
Provo Women's Day has a long event schedule, which includes the Mayor's Breakfast and Lecture Series, Zumba with Kass Martin and Emily Engemann, Mini Tasting and Factory Tour, Ladies Fancy Ride, a Film Screening of 'Suffragette,' and Provo Women's Day: After Party. The website to sign up for these events went live Feb. 16, and Booth reports the limited space activities are filling up fast.
American Fork resident Shari Lyon said she is excited to attend Provo Women’s Day.
“I am looking forward to connecting with the women of Provo and building those relationships,” Lyon said.
Lyon said she’s looking forward to attending the Women's Day events with her daughter.
Attendees of the 2016 Provo Women's Day chat with the event speakers and explore the Writ and Vision art gallery. (Provo City Mayor's Office)
Booth said last year’s Provo Women’s Day was amazing.
“We had an overwhelming support of people excited and wanting to be involved,” Booth said. “This year we’ve been working really hard to grow the event and get more community members and organizations involved.”
Booth said that while many of the activities this year will be the same as last year’s, there are a few changes and additions, including the Provo Girls Summit activity.
“We wanted to create an event that reached out to our youth,” Booth said. “They’ll get to talk to women in the workforce that maybe are in professions that women and girls don’t normally identify themselves with. Everything from engineers to motion photography, and so much more.”
Provo resident Susie Estrada said she was intrigued when she first heard about the event.
“I hope that Women's Day acknowledges women's strengths and points out their value as being more than mothers and wives, both amazing things, but not all that a women can be or think as only options for her,” Estrada said.
Estrada said she hopes the event will be a day where the spotlight can be on the women of Provo to let their voices be heard.
Booth said their biggest event of the day is the after party, which is the only paid event. The ticket fee is $10 a person and 100 percent of the proceeds goes towards the charity United Way of Utah County.
“We really wanted to have some sort of charity aspect as well,” Booth said regarding the decision to partner with United Way of Utah County. “They give the right tools to families struggling with mental health.”
Booth said attendees have the opportunity to hear lectures from a diverse range of female speakers.
“We feel pretty confident that we’ve got an amazing list of events that has something for everybody,” Booth said.
Booth encourages everyone to visit the event website, browse through the schedule and see if there’s anything particularly intriguing.
“It’s a great opportunity for a girl’s night out or to attend some free classes,” Booth said. “It’s definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Attendees of last year's Provo Women's Day enjoy each other's company at the film screening event. (Provo City Mayor's Office)
Save