Women of the World Festival seeks a global stage in Beijing

The two organizations signed a strategic partnership agreement of hold cultural exchange events in the following three years, according to Zhang Li, general manager of Tianqiao Performing Arts Center.

Zhang notes that the event's content is still under discussion and she looks forward to some inspiring keynote speakers.

One of four daughters of a civil servant and a teacher, Kelly grew up in 1960s Liverpool. As a child, her passion was to gather children in her neighborhood and tell them stories or perform plays with them.

She earned a bachelor's degree in drama and theater arts from Birmingham University in 1975 and founded Solent People's Theatre a year later. In her career, she has directed over 100 theatrical productions. In 2005, Kelly took over as artistic director of Southbank Centre, eager to inspire women of the next generation.

"We need a festival that really celebrates everything that girls and women have done. We also need the festival to ask questions about why we still have an unequal world," she says.

For Kelly, the most rewarding part of holding the festival is to have women's voices heard.

The festival also gets men actively involved.

"Men are speaking at the event and we have men on the panels to discuss equality for women," she says.

"There are moments when this festival affects you too much. For example, a young woman comes to the festival and says that it makes her feel that she could fight for what she wants to do. A man, who has a daughter or a niece, says that he hopes to make some changes," Kelly says.