Female-only retreats and festivals are on the rise as women everywhere recognise the power of coming together to share, heal and celebrate what it is to be a woman in the world today.

Why would women want to have a festival that excludes men?

At a woman’s festival or woman’s retreat, women can let down their guard and relax in a way that’s rarely otherwise possible. And when women come together to share their stories, raise their voices in song and dance like crazy, there’s a special mood of community and freedom that is liberating and empowering.

And here are a few other women’s festivals and retreats:

Womanfest – held in Glastonbury, UK 6-7 July. The festival organisers say: ‘OH YES, we’re BACK!  And GODDESS, how we’ve missed you all, missed meeting new sisters, and old.’

Ladies Only Festival – paused until 2025. The site is only in German and it looks like it’s held in a big sports hall.

The Sisterhood – this is a women’s area within a major festival, Glastonbury, and has its own stages, camping area and the festival organisers describe it as  a ‘revolutionary clubhouse…open to all people who identify as women.’

Sadly, the women-only festival in Sweden, Statement, fell foul of the country’s strict discrimination rules and seems not to be happening again for a while.

There are, of course, many retreats for women and as retreats come and go you can follow the link to a summary of some of the yoga, writing and dance retreats for women to be found in Europe.