The only festival in the UK celebrating women in digital returns to Brighton in March for its second year.

Spring Forward has more than doubled in size with seven confirmed events.

The month-long celebration of women in digital culture takes place throughout March at 68 Middle Street, Brighton.

The festival coincides with Women’s History Month and aims to empower and encourage more women into digital media and to celebrate the past achievements of women in the sector.

Festival director Viviana Doctorovich, a leading user experience designer (UXD), said: “Whilst efforts are currently being made to address the gender imbalance in the digital industry, I believe many women are still struggling to find a voice in a mainly male dominated work place.

“The aim of Spring Forward is help women find that voice and encourage them to join this fulfilling and creative industry.

“My hope is that the festival will act as a springboard for the creation of a support network that’ll encourage women into taking a more active role in shaping the future of the digital industry.”

This year’s largest and most anticipated event is She Says Brighton - “Speak Up!” on March 24 at Hotel du Vin.

Having sold out in a record 12 hours, it will feature talks from four female bosses of leading Brighton digital companies: Caroline Walmsley of e-learning company Brightwave, Nicole Bradfield, managing director of brand communications agency Neo, Clare Hopkins, managing director of IT company Ideal Networks, and Melanie Hickmore, managing director of video consultancy Nice Media.

American Express is the gold sponsor with Firefly, Brightwave, Madgex and Hatch, silver sponsors and 68 Middle Street a venue sponsor.

Other events include Codebar, a workshop for women and LGBTQ people on programming and web development, Curiosity Hub, a creative event for girls, She Codes Brighton – Tech in 10, talks on Android, Drupal and Rails others and Pixels and Prosecco, from women in the games industry.

For more information go to wespringforward.com