After a month of planning and preparing, the University of Idaho Women’s Center will host one of its biggest events of the year, FEMFest.
The event will take place in front of the Idaho Commons Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will feature music, balloons, free ice cream and popcorn. The event’s main focus is to showcase activities that celebrate the progress that women have made throughout history and the world’s movement toward gender equality. All students and members of the Moscow community are welcome to attend.
Assistant director for Programs at the Women’s Center Bekah MillerMacPhee said there will also be a raffle that will give people a chance to win prizes such as water bottles, iPad covers, Vandal totes and a Dutch Bros. gift card.
The different elements of FEMFest will bring in extra knowledge and information about the importance of women’s rights and equality.
Other student organizations will also be present at the event, such as the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Violence Prevention Programs and Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse. The League of Women Voters will also be present to help people register to vote for the upcoming November election. All in all, 18 organizations aside from the Women’s Center will take part in FEMFest, MillerMacPhee said.
MillerMacPhee said the first Feminism Festival at UI was held in 2012 to recognize the creation of the 19th amendment and to celebrate National Women’s Equality day.
“I think it’s a way to highlight the fight that women have been engaged in to obtain equity in the U.S.,” MillerMacPhee said. “It’s a celebration of some of the accomplishments that have been made as well as a time to highlight the progress that still needs to be made.”
This event not only embraces the advances that women have made throughout history, but it also acknowledges that feminism embodies equality amongst multiple genders, she said.
With the first female candidate for president representing a major political party on the presidential ballot, MillerMacPhee said, now more than ever is a time to celebrate and acknowledge the tremendous feats women have made in gaining equality.
“It’s really just a fun celebration, and it’s also a good way to celebrate the last day of the first week of classes,” MillerMacPhee said.
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