11 March 2024

Gallery hosts unique celebration of Cooktown women for IWD 2024

| Lyndon Keane
Start the conversation

There were no cliched purple cupcakes or guest speakers to be seen when about 50 Cooktown women frocked up for an unconventional celebration of all things friendship and inspiration for International Women’s Day. Photo: Supplied.

There was not a purple cupcake to be seen when more than 50 women united to celebrate International Women’s Day in Cooktown on 8 March.

Unconventionally billed as having “no frothy feminism, just real women connecting and inspiring”, the event took the form of a sundown soiree at Elizabeth Guzsely Gallery.

With the cliched cupcakes swapped for champagne and guest speakers benched in favour of an epic grazing table of gourmet cheeses, dips and crudites, organiser Kristina Olsen told Cape York Weekly the gathering was a fitting representation of the strength and power of female friendships.

Katie Broomfield, Amelia Rouse, Emma Andrews and Codi Spokes joined about 50 women from Cooktown to celebrate International Women’s Day 2024 in style at Elizabeth Guzsely Gallery on 8 March. Photo: Supplied.

“I truly believe that when we’re confident in who we are, we simply don’t feel the need to judge and criticise others,” she said.

“I wanted to frock up and celebrate women being women, whatever that means to them, without judgement.”

Between return visits to the grazing table, attendees caught up with old friends and made new ones in an authentic celebration of International Women’s Day.

Ms Olsen said the event had been incredibly well received, with plans in place to hold another get together well before the 8 March, 2025 appears on the calendar.

The event was one of a number held across Cape York and Torres Strait to mark International Women’s Day, including Regional Art Services Tropical North, which hosted a Cooktown gathering involving poetry, dance, and an exhibition of quilts from the part 25 years of International Women’s Day celebrations.

Katina McGregor and Tara Litzow soak up the atmosphere at Elizabeth Guzsely Gallery on Friday night. Photo: Supplied.

Max Alabakis and Jane Dennis take time out for a photo during the International Women’s Day event in Cooktown. Photo: Supplied.

The grazing table was a sight to behold when Cooktown women converged on Elizabeth Guzsely Gallery to mark International Women’s Day 2024 on 8 March. Photo: Supplied.

Start the conversation

Cape York Weekly

Subscribe to get the latest edition of Cape York Weekly in your inbox each Monday.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Cape York Weekly's terms and conditions and privacy policy.