WOW Festival arts and performance weekend
- The WOW (Women of the World) Festival features performances, panels, and workshops celebrating women and artists. - Occurs this weekend across San Diego with events April 24–26 at multiple venues. - More details at sandiegouniontribune.com.
La Jolla Playhouse’s WOW Festival is running through Sunday, April 26, turning the UC San Diego campus into a four-day arts crawl of immersive and interactive performances. (lajollaplayhouse.org) The 2026 festival opened Thursday, April 23, and features more than 20 new works, including free and paid events spread across multiple campus locations in La Jolla. (lajollaplayhouse.org) LaJolla.com’s festival preview reported 28 productions over four days, most of them free, with ticketed shows priced from $10 to $29. (lajolla.com) WOW stands for “Without Walls,” La Jolla Playhouse’s format for putting theater, dance, circus and visual storytelling outside conventional stages and into plazas, paths and other public spaces. (kpbs.org) KPBS reported that this is the third straight year the festival has been staged at UC San Diego, with shows running continuously at multiple venues each day. (kpbs.org) This year’s lineup includes “Handle with Care” from Belgium’s Ontroerend Goed, a one-person performance built around a box, and “Karaoke Dreams” from San Diego’s Blindspot Collective, set inside a neon-lit karaoke bar. (lajollaplayhouse.org) Other works highlighted by organizers and local coverage include “Project: Stardust,” an interactive UC San Diego student production about a Big Tech science project, and “Suzik,” a free Warren Mall performance by South Korean company FORCE using Chinese pole acrobatics. (lajollaplayhouse.org, kpbs.org) The broader WOW name also belongs to Women of the World, a global network that says it has delivered more than 150 festivals and programs in 71 places since 2010, focused on women, girls and non-binary people. (thewowfoundation.com) In San Diego this weekend, though, WOW means art you walk through, stumble onto and sometimes join, with schedules, maps and ticket information posted through La Jolla Playhouse as the festival continues through April 26. (lajollaplayhouse.org)
