World of Music, Arts and Dance
WOMAD is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance.
History
WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, with Thomas Brooman, Bob Hooton, Mark Kidel, Stephen Pritchard, Martin Elbourne and Jonathan Arthur. Original designers were Steve Byrne and Valerie Hawthorn. The first WOMAD festival was in Shepton Mallet, UK in 1982. The audience saw Peter Gabriel, Don Cherry, The Beat, Drummers of Burundi, Echo & The Bunnymen, Imrat Khan, Prince Nico Mbarga, Peter Hammill, Simple Minds, Suns of Arqa, The Chieftains and Ekome National Dance Company, founded by Barrington, Angie, Pauline and Lorna Anderson, the pioneering African arts company in the UK amongst others performing. Peter Gabriel's performance included a dynamic inclusion of the Ekome National Dance Company, fusing live African Drums on Gabriel's track "The Rhythm of the Heat".Gabriel and his company, which had funded WOMAD, faced financial ruin from high costs of the festival in its first year, worsened by the lack of suitable transport to the venue and a lack of publicity. At the suggestion of Tony Smith, the manager of Gabriel and Genesis, he and the remaining members of Genesis agreed to play together for a single show under the name Six of the Best at Milton Keynes. The show rescued the company and made it possible for further WOMAD events to take place.
In December 1992, six operating and support companies, including WOMAD U.K. and WOMAD Productions, were voluntarily liquidated due to the accumulation of $300,000 in debt. Dominic Pride wrote in Billboard that WOMAD and Gabriel's Real World company were discussing ways of saving the WOMAD festival". The festival promotion companies were subsequently saved by Real World Group after it purchased their name, trade, and assets.
Since 1982, WOMAD Festivals have travelled all over the world, bringing artists to 27 countries and entertaining over one million people. The main UK event settled at Rivermead in Reading, Berkshire, from 1990 until 2006, before moving to its present home in Charlton Park, Wiltshire from 2007.
In 2017, WOMAD UK marked its 35th anniversary. Headliners Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra, Toots and The Maytals, and Roy Ayers, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 along with 30 other artists performed for a record-setting audience for the festival of 40,000 people.
In 2022, after two forced cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic the UK festival returned for its 40th anniversary. Peter Gabriel appeared on stage with Friday night headliner Angelique Kidjo as well as introducing Osibisa on stage on Saturday afternoon. Other headliners included The Flaming Lips, Fatoumata Diawara & Lianne La Havas. Other keys acts across the weekend on other stages included Kae Tempest, Kanda Bongo Man, Gilberto Gil, The Selector, Fulu Miziki, and Les Amazones d'Afrique.
The UK festival took a year off in 2025 to look for a new home but the annual events in Adelaide, New Zealand, Caceres & Chile took place as usual.
Festival recordings
A triple album was released in 2007 to mark the 25th anniversary of WOMAD featuring recordings from many of the festivals in the UK and other sites across the world.Various other Real World Records albums feature recordings from the 1982, 1988, 1996 and 2002 UK festivals.
Artists such as 23 Skidoo, Sons of Arqa, Echo & The Bunnymen and Tankus the Henge have released recordings from the UK festivals.
For the 40th anniversary of the first UK festival in 2022 Real World Records released the Live at WOMAD 1982 double album on CD, vinyl and download featuring mostly previously unreleased recordings from the very first UK festival. The CD included two bonus songs. The vinyl included a replica of the original poster.
Ethos
From the outset, the WOMAD name has reflected the festival's idea; to be embracing but non-definitive, inspiring and outward looking; and more than anything, enthusiastic about a world that has no boundaries in its ability to communicate through music and movement.Programming
WOMAD has always presented music that they felt to be of excellence, passion and individuality, regardless of musical genre or geographical origin. WOMAD encourages collaboration amongst the artists they invite to perform. The first WOMAD Festival in 1982 had Echo and the Bunnymen join forces with the Drummers of Burundi, and WOMAD Abu Dhabi 2010, saw a collaboration between Tinariwen, TV on the Radio members Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe, Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan, and the French Algerian Mehdi from Speed Caravan.- Workshops. Adult workshops are taken by the musicians and will involve dance, musical instruments and discussions. Children's workshops involve painting, circus skills, graffiti, modelling, story telling and more.
- Taste The World. Musicians cook a choice of dish from their home country in front of an audience.
- Global Market. The Global Market sells international food and wares.
UK location
Previous UK locations
After the debut 1982 performance at the Bath & West Showground the festival took a sabbatical. There were some WOMAD events in 1983 at the ICA in London as part of a collaboration with Capital Radio Festival to see if there was still an audience for the brand.1984 was held at Ashton Court, Bristol.
1985 saw the festival move to Mersea Island in Essex with New Order, The Fall, Toots & The Maytals, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, The Pogues, A Certain Ratio and Penguin Cafe Orchestra performing amongst others. .
1986 the festival moved to Kenn Pier Farm, Clevedon, Somerset and saw performances from Gil Scott-Heron, Misty In Roots, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Housemartins, Youssou N'Dour, The Bhundu Boys, Aswad, Hugh Masekela, 23 Skidoo and The Blue Aeroplanes amongst many others 19–20 July.
In 1987 WOMAD hosted the new world-music-focused third stage at Glastonbury Festival that went on to be called The Jazz World stage. 1987 also saw the first of the WOMAD weekenders in Carlyon Bay, Cornwall that ran annually until 1993. . There was also an event at Earl's Court in London as well as a winter festival.
There was a folk & blues WOMAD event in 1988 & 1989 at the South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell..
1989 to 1997 WOMAD weekender events were held in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire so that the brand weren't accused of being "southern-centric".
1989 also saw an event on the Isle of Guernsey.
1990-2006 The Rivermead Centre, Reading, Berkshire was the permanent WOMAD UK festival home before the festival moved to its current home in Wiltshire due to needing to expand, by the time the festival had expanded and needed to move there were three stages: The Open Air, Siam and Village.. 1988 saw the Siam Tent first introduced.
1992 there was an additional event held in Derry, Northern Ireland as well as the Real World Recording Week in Box, UK. There were additional World Festivals in The Park events in both Bath and Brighton this year, with Bath also hosting another event the following year.
The years 2003–2005 saw additional events at The Eden Project, including a special Live 8 performance.
2007 took place in the grounds of Charlton Park, a stately home in Wiltshire annually until 2024. The arena held at least 5 main stages with a further one in the Arboretum. An old fashioned steam fair, global market, children's area, wellbeing section was also found on the WOMAD UK festival site.
WOMAD Charlton Park fell on the last complete weekend in July. In 2019 the capacity of the festival was 40,000.
WOMAD came to Bristol Zoo in 2011, with a subsequent event in 2012. A boycott of the 2012 event was called for by the Captive Animals Protection Society because of concerns that noise from the festival could affect the animals' welfare.
2011 event :
Biram Seck, Gabby Young and Other Animals, Muntu Valdo, Rua MacMillan, Siyaya, The Magic Tombolinos
2012 event :
Ballet Nimba, Jaipur Kawa Brass Band, Perunika, Ska Cubano, Spiro, The Boxettes
2013 event :
Diabel Cissokho, Katy Carr & the Aviators, Sarah Savoy and the Francadians, The Dhol Foundation, The Barons of Tang.
.
2022 saw a free WOMAD commissioned event at the South Bank Centre, London featuring an hour long performance by Yazz Ahmed.
Reading highlights
2001
Friday- Soweto String Quartet
- Kazufumi 'Echo' Kodama
- Mabulu
- Asian Dub Foundation
- Ballet Folklorico Cutumba
- Rachid Taha
- Joji Hirota & the London Metropolitan Ensemble
- Dounia
- Paul James & Mark Hawkins
Saturday
- Siyaya
- Tarras
- Hamid Baroudi
- Oliver Mutukudzi & The Black Spirits
- Kazufumi 'Echo' Kodama
- Imbizo with special guests Nuclearte
- Cecile Kayirebwa
- Jose Merce
- Juan de Marcos' Afro-Cuban All Stars
- Modou Diouf & Beugue Djamm
- Cachaito Lopez
- Cheikh Lo
- Dounia
- Whirl-Y-Gig
Sunday
- Regis Gizavo
- Orchestre National de Barbes
- Shilpi Baruri
- Badenya les Freres Coulibaly
- Danza Libre
- Hamid Baroudi
- Badejo Arts
- Trilok Gurtu
- Oliver Mutukudzi & The Black Spirits
- Siyaya
- Mushtaq
- Whirl-Y-Gig