On the 22nd of January 2017 we saw the presentation of the third instalment of The Girl To Woman Festival in Lennox Head NSW. My wife Sarah Karam and I have been involved in different ways with the festival for the past three years and so it’s been great to track the difference and the success. There is a small team of volunteers behind the festival that have kept in touch all year to bring what is a truly unique and possibly a one of a kind festival to our local area.

What is different about this festival, is as G2W Festival Host and main sponsor, Natalie Benhayon from Esoteric Women’s Health says –

“Our Festival is about empowering young girls and women as they transition through to womanhood. They’re exposed to a lot through platforms like Instagram, fashion magazines and music clips, but the more we build confidence in their own expression and natural beauty, the less they need to follow what’s ‘out there’.”

Being a parent of young girls and a supporter of women in the community in general, it made sense for me to play an active role in a festival of this value. What is different for me is the quality in which the day is presented. With respect to other festivals and community events, I have seen there is a push to organise the day and that it’s important to have a ‘draw card’ to bring people in. The G2W Festival has made the draw card the quality of community connections and relationships and not anything else. This doesn’t make the day exclusive or only available for some on the day, but open to the whole community the whole year around.

What I have taken from being a part of this festival, is that it is organised by people who are active within the community we live in; teachers, practitioners, business owners and everyday people, using the feedback they get from their relationships in the community to shape or direct the festival to be one that is specifically for the community we live in. How often do we sit back and see something go on within our community or even within our four walls that we don’t like the look of and yet because of our busy lives or other things going on we don’t address it like we know we should? This G2W Festival brings us back to the point where we all play our part in what the community represents and don’t just leave it for someone else to address or for tomorrow.

One thing that was evident from the start of the organisation through to the festival end was that this wasn’t a festival brought to the community for them. It was a festival that may have been organised by a few, but was very much the voice of us all. We already look forward to being a part of and planning the G2W 2018, watch this space as they say and as I say stay in touch with the community around you.

The Belle Central and Nourish will be hosting a few G2W events throughout this year after hours, so keep your eyes out as they are currently being planned, with events and dates to be released soon.