Bloody Beautiful Festival

The first-ever Bloody Beautiful Festival launches on 3 October 2025 at Tolhuistuin featuring an international line-up of pioneering speakers and creatives who harness the power of art, design and storytelling to improve the lives of millions of people with wombs.
More than 1.8 billion people bleed every month - women as well as trans men and non-binary people with a womb have periods. Despite being one of the most regular biological occurrences in the world, the subject remains a taboo. The consequences of this are far-reaching, less than 1% of global research budgets are invested into understanding conditions such as premenstrual syndrome (PMS), cervical cancer and endometriosis, amongst others. The Bloody Beautiful Festival challenges this inequality.
The Bloody Beautiful movement was started in 2022 in the Netherlands by creative studio affect lab to normalise conversations about menstruation and menopause. In three years it has grown to an international movement with 120 collaborators and events in the Netherlands, Japan and Hong Kong, reaching more than half a million people.
Everyone is welcome. We would love to see you there.
More information: bloodybeautiful.net
The Bloody Beautiful Festival has a full day programme of talks about design, femtech, period justice, art and public space by frontrunners in their field. In parallel with these panel talks there will be gatherings called “gossip sessions” that focus on sharing lived experiences and knowledge amongst participants. Menstruation advocates and grassroots organisations will be hosting these sessions on endometriosis as well as mental health and the menopause. In Bloody Beautiful’s playful spirit there will also be interactive moments and art performances.
Speakers include:
Scottish parliamentarian Monica Lennon who championed universal free access to menstrual products in her country.
* Designers Fillip Studios who designed a radical new concept for pelvic health.
* Dr. Louise Newson, the British medic known for kickstarting the menopause revolution.
* Tammy Sheldon co-founder of Neighborhood Feminists, an Amsterdam grassroots initiative combating period poverty in the city.
* Sociologist Letizia Chiappini from Slutty Urbanism, who researches how cities can be more inclusive.
Part of the programme includes lunch, coffee breaks throughout the day to meet other Bloody Beautiful people, concluding with drinks and a gorgeous view over the river and the city of Amsterdam.
affect lab is a creative change maker. For the past four years we have been building a more inclusive future for menstruators and people in menopause through public events and creative workshops. Storytelling and creative inspiration are at the heart of what we do. affect lab is a registered foundation led by artists Klasien van de Zandschulp and Dr. Natalie Dixon in collaboration with an international artistic network.