Shine Festival taking place to open conversation on young girls’ confidence issues
The Shine Festival by The Shona Project is taking place on October 11 and 12 to empower teen girls to tackle issues that they face in everyday life.
The hybrid (online & in-person) festival is free of charge and the in-person portion of the event is taking place at The Conference Centre at The Clayton Hotel Burlington Road. Over 1,000 girls each day will hear about topics such as mental health, wellness, mindset, career, diversity, individuality, arts, sports, social issues and sustainability.
New research in Ireland has found that 80% of teenage girls don’t feel like they have the same opportunities as boys, 77% of teen girls don’t ‘feel beautiful’, almost 60% say they have worries or anxieties that nobody knows about, and 90% have negative thoughts about themselves.
The multi-award winning SHINE Festival is taking place in celebration of International Day Of The Girl, and is sponsored by Permanent TSB, HP, The Dove Self-Esteem Project, Sport Ireland, PLAN International, BAI, Eastgate Engineering, Cogs and Marvel, SAP, Beat 102-103, iRadio, SPIN 1038 and SPIN SouthWest.
The two-day Shine Festival is taking place on the back of research by The Shona Project and its partners at The Youth Lab and the Irish Secondary Students Union.
This research found worrying results from the past six months alone.
- 61% of teenage girls struggle with body image.
- 55% feel isolated
- 52% have low self-esteem
- 48% have low mental health
As well as these results surrounding the teenage girls’ mental health and confidence issues, the research also found what threats girls face in their normal day-to-day lives.
- 61% feel unsafe in the evening and at night-time.
- 56% wouldn’t know what to do if they experienced bullying.
- A third agreed that their parents don’t have a good understanding of what’s going on in their lives.
Over 100 impressive online and in-person speakers including Roxie Nafousi, Erica Cody, Louise McSharry, Ellen Keane, Georgie Crawford, Senator Eileen Flynn and musical guest Lea Heart plus many more will be attending the fantastic event.
The Founder and CEO of The Shona Project, Tammy Darcy said, “Like everyone else, the young women we work with have been hugely affected by recent historic world events. They are feeling more stressed, isolated and anxious than ever before. SHINE allows us to provide them with the inspiration they need right now, and invite them to become part of an empowering movement of women who are strong, resilient and authentic”.
In-person tickets are completely sold out but online tickets are free of charge and can be found here. Schools can sign up to stream the event live in class. Individual girls or women can also access free tickets, with the option to donate to The Shona Project welcomed and greatly appreciated.