Michelle Obama-inspired festival dedicated to black girls and women is coming to London

Obama is returning to the UK in April

Katie O'Malley
Thursday 21 March 2019 13:36 EDT
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A free festival inspired by Michelle Obama is coming to the UK to celebrate black girls and women.

Following the success of her memoir Becoming, publishing house Penguin and Black Girl Festival are teaming up to host a three-day event in London.

Titled “BGF x Becoming Festival”, the event will involve talks and workshops inspired by themes from Obama’s memoir.

The event will offer attendees poster making workshops and bitesize history lessons on Black feminism.

It will also provide creative writing workshops and in conversations between black women within the creative industries.

Black Girl Festival was founded by journalist Paula Akpan and curator Nicole Crentsil back in 2017 in celebration of all things black women and girls.

Speakers and the festival's full programme of events are yet to be announced but if Obama’s recent book tour was anything to go by, you won't want to miss it.

In December, Obama’s talk with author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at the Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre sold out in minutes, according to The Bookseller. The event came weeks after publishers Penguin Random House announced the author’s book was the top selling book of the year.

Former US first lady Michelle Obama (L) speaks with Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (R) at the Royal Festival Hall in London on December 3, 2018
Former US first lady Michelle Obama (L) speaks with Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (R) at the Royal Festival Hall in London on December 3, 2018 (Getty Images)

Obama fans will have another chance to see the star at the Becoming: An Intimate Conversation with Michelle Obama event on 14 April at the O2 Arena.

At the event, ticket holders will have the chance to hear Obama open up about her experiences, both public and private, from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as a mother, lawyer, First Lady, and author.

“I can’t wait to continue the discussions that have been so meaningful for me and, I hope, for so many others,” Obama said of the arena conversation.

The BGF x Becoming festival will take place at Canada Water Library in south east London from 9 – 11 April.

Tickets to the event are free but you must you must register here to be eligible. Click here to find out more.

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