EPACENTER hosted a Girl Power Festival to empower young girls for Women’s History Month (WHM) on Saturday. This first-time event featured inspiring performances, self-care activities, and arts and crafts workshops.
EPACENTER Executive Director Nadine Rambeau and her team launched the event to honor women for their powerful contributions to the world. “We made space for them to be able to celebrate, come together, get pampered, and just get treated well,” Rambeau said. They selected activities ranging from a dress giveaway to meeting princesses for this event.
The event featured an arts and crafts room with supplies for nail painting, a variety of patterned fabrics for headband making, and pearly beads for bead creations. Participants had the opportunity to pick from a selection of gems, polishes, and glitter set out.
Participants also danced to music in a room full of colorful flashing lights. The dance party began, featuring artists such as Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, and SZA. Participants danced to the music laughing and spinning in circles.
The event also featured surprise appearances from classic Disney princesses, including Elsa, Rapunzel, and Moana. They provided both entertainment for the girls and assistance during the activities.
Participant Giovanni Mata and his two daughters attended the event since his daughters come to EPACENTER every day after school. They decided it would be fun to go to one of their events to support the program, and while they were there, they really enjoyed the dance party. “Hopefully, we can continue to make these kinds of events for the community. It is nice to see people out of their homes socializing,” Mata said.
Event organizer Jennifer Ifil-Ryan helped launch this event to emphasize the importance of WHM. Ifil-Ryan “My role here is to create programs across the entire year that can serve as many people as possible.” Ifil-Ryan said. Jennifer also stated how she creates the popular events they host. “We think about values, and that guides how we decide what we are going to do,” Ifil-Ryan said. Through celebrations like Black History Month, Latino History Month, and WHM, EPACENTER always seeks to commemorate these holidays.
From creative workshops and a dance party to self-care activities, this event showed young girls the importance of celebrating WHM and empowering themselves.
