WOMADELAIDE
International MUSIC
FESTIVAL
WOMAD
Friday, March 6 marked the opening of the four-day
WOMADelaide music festival.
With its odd portmanteau name (WOMAD is an acronym for World of Music and Dance)
the South Australian version of the UK festival, originally founded and promoted by
Peter Gabriel, began as part of Rob Brookman’s Adelaide
Festival in 1992.
ABOUT
There have been 23 festivals since 1992. With the festival becoming an annual fixture in 2003, and a
four-day event in 2010.
FESTIVAL ROOTS
Since 1995 the organisation has been managed by Arts Projects Australia (APA) and the current director, Ian Scobie is the sole remaining original
member of the APA team.
LANDSCAPE
The festival has become a truly unique part of the Australian festival landscape, showcasing the best, the essential – and the surprising – in global music, dance, art and ideas.
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WOMADELAIDE
NUMBER CRUNCH
1993 – 30,000 1995 - 55,000
1996 WOMAD INDIAN PACIFIC – 8,000
(one-off event): concert train trip from Perth in WA to concert in Pimba in the
SA outback, plus concerts at the Adelaide Festival
1997 - 60,000
1998 WOMAD IN THE VALES – 8,000
(one-off closing event for Adelaide Festival): concert at the McLaren Vale
winery district plus concerts at the Adelaide Festival, mostly in the Squeezebox
outdoor club venue
1999 - 64,000 2001– 64,000
2002 WOMAD WARM-UP - 1,500
(one-off event at the Adelaide Festival Centre; 3 concerts and 3 workshops)
2003 – 68,000 (first annual event) 2004 – 70,000 (first Adelaide Festival)
2005 - 65,000 2006 - 70,000
2007 - 78,000 2008 - 75,000
2009 - 72,000 2010 – 81,500 (first 4 day event)
2011 – 89,500 2012 – 85,000
2013 – 88,000 2013 – 88,000
2014 – 86,000 2015 – 91,000
2016 – 95,000 2017 – 95,000
2018 – 95,000 2019 – 95,000
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4.
“I THINK THE
FESTIVAL
EXPEREINCE FOR
THE PATRON NEEDS
TO BE DISCOVERY,
SURPRISE, SOME
OLD FRIENDS, SOME
BEAUTIFULL MUSIC
AND GREAT
ARTISTS” [Director, Ian Scobie]
HISTORY SNAPSHOT WWW.WOMAD.ORG
Enthusiasm for music from around the world led Peter Gabriel,
Thomas Brooman and Bob Hooton to the idea of WOMAD in 1980.
It was founded on the basis that many others would share their
enthusiasm if only they had the opportunity to listen to some of
the global sounds. WOMAD (which stands for the ‘World of
Music, Arts & Dance’) evolved from an idea Gabriel had at a
concert involving an African group. This then developed into a
much larger event incorporating music from everywhere. Despite
a considerable lack of enthusiasm from most of the music business,
the team gathered together a group of people who could create an
event which would present music and dance from all over the
world alongside rock, jazz and folk music from ‘the West’. The
financial realities of an event of this scale meant that a one-off event
was unreasonable, so the team started considering alternatives and
thus the idea for a festival was born. The first festival took place in
1982 in Shepton Mallet in the UK; it was a rainy event that lost a
lot of money!
The collective persevered and WOMAD festivals found their
niche in cities across the globe. WOMAD festivals are
renowned for their unique mix of artists and distinctive, family-
friendly atmosphere. The festivals are often weekend-long
events with artists programmed across multiple stages.
Another key element of a WOMAD festival is the workshops
program, where the audience is encouraged to participate in
the action. Equally popular is the Global Village stalls of high
quality international cuisine and crafts (instruments, clothes
and jewellery) and interesting and informative charity stalls.
Past festivals have been held in Singapore, Sri Lanka, Abu
Dhabi, Russia, Greece, the Carary Islands and Chile. Annual
WOMAD festivals currently exist in the UK (at the Charlton
Park private estate), Australia (Adelaide), NZ (New Plymouth),
Spain (Caceres) and Chile (Recoleta, Santiago).
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2020 LINE UP ALDOUS HARDING ARTEFACTUM AS THE WORLD TIPPED
B.DANCE BILL CALLAHAN THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA BRIGGS
THE CAT EMPIRE CATRIN FINCH & SECKOU KEITA CIRCOLOMBIA
COMPANY ARCHIBALD CARAMANTRAN
CRAIG WALSH - MONUMENTS
DELINE BRISCOE DESTYN MALOYA DR PIFFLE & THE BURLAP
BAND DYSON STRINGER CLOHER ECHO DRAMA EZRA
COLLECTIVE FLOR DE TOLOACHE FOCO ALAIRE GELAREH
POUR'S GARDEN GENERAL LEVY GRAVITY & OTHER MYTHS
(GOM) GREG WILSON HIATUS KAIYOTE IBERI IFRIQIYYA
ELECTRIQUE JORGE BEN JOR KATE MILLER-HEIDKE KATHRYN
JOSEPH KERMESZ À L'EST KIKAGAKU MOYO KIM SO RA KING
AYISOBA L SUBRAMANIAM LATE NITE TUFF GUY LAURA
MARLING LINIKER E OS CARAMELOWS LOS AMIGOS INVISIBLES
LUISA SOBRAL MARINA SATTI & FONÉS MATT CORBY MAUBERE
TIMOR MAVIS STAPLES MINYO CRUSADERS MISSTRESS BARBARA
NGAIIRE ODETTE OISIMA ORANG ORANG DRUM THEATRE
ORQUESTA AKOKÁN PARTY DOZEN THE PUBLIC OPINION AFRO
ORCHESTRA RHIANNON GIDDENS W/ FRANCESCO TURRISI RURA
SALIF KEITA SLEAFORD MODS SO.CRATES SPINIFEX GUM
SPRIGGA MEK STELLIE SUPER RATS TAMI NEILSON THANDI
PHOENIX THEMBA TRIO DA KALI TRUE VIBENATION TUULETAR
USTAD SAAMI WILLIAM BARTON & VERONIQUE SERRET