KEY POINTS:
A little over a decade ago I was on the steering committee of the first Womad festival.
We had an enthusiastic meeting until someone wise - promoter Ian Magan, possibly - pointed out a sobering fact: we all knew what Womad was, but few among the paying public did.
The room went quiet when someone else said a friend had asked, "What is this Womad thing? Is it a women's festival?" Enthusiasm for a festival of global music suddenly turned into a project of educating the public, and that was less fun and more work.
These days Womad is part of our musical vocabulary and this bi-annual, multicultural music festival has established itself in our entertainment diaries.
When it moved from Auckland to Brooklands Park in New Plymouth it also found its natural home in New Zealand: the beautiful park is small enough to walk around easily; there are distinct performance spaces, and the ambience is both intimate and like that of a large outdoor festival.
These days the event is launched by the Prime Minister, receives considerable media coverage, and the last one sold out with more than 30,000 punters attending. I reckon not one went along thinking it was a women's festival.
The line-up for next year's event contains many unfamiliar names, but among the artists from 16 countries are some exciting acts.
The best known is the French/Argentinian group Gotan Project, whose three albums of exotic dub-influenced tango-cum-electronica trance made their way into chill-out rooms and home entertainment centres across the globe. Tracks from their albums appeared in television shows such as Nip/Tuck and Sex and the City.
They are very cool and will be a major drawcard.
More upbeat and exciting, however, is Etran Finatawa, a group of people who nomadically wandered the Sahara and in more recent times have been caught up in territorial warfare. Etran Finatawa bring together traditional instruments with hard-edged guitars in what is a bluesy, electrifying rock'n'roll sound. My pick for a must-see at the festival.
Also out of Africa comes Nigerian star Femi Kuti, son of the legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti (1938-97), who carries his father's Afrobeat banner. With the band Positive Force, he delivers a meltdown of James Brown-styled soul, jazzy horns, rock guitars and percussion-driven dance.
Salif Keita may be slightly better known. From Mali, this albino singer established himself in Paris in the mid-80s and has released a string of critically acclaimed albums notable for his gritty and penetrating voice, and the array of instruments which include balafon and kora, two mesmerising instruments from his region.
South Africa's Mahotella Queens will bring the beat of Soweto to the festival, and the six-piece Celenod from New Caledonia deliver up the dance'n'chant style of kaneka music which has been influenced by choirs as much as traditional rhythms.
The singer-guitarist Lila Downs from Mexico enjoys a cult following here on the back of her La Cantina album. With jet black hair and vibrant Mexican clothing she looks like the artist Frida Kahlo, and one of her songs from the movie Frida was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. She will doubtless deliver a fiery and passionate set.
On a quieter note is Guo Yue, the Chinese bamboo flute player and chef whose album on Peter Gabriel's Real World label Music, Food and Love was a hypnotically simple and beautiful collection. He performed with his brother Yi as the Guo Brothers, and his music has appeared on the soundtracks to The Last Emperor and The Killing Fields.
If there are fashions in world music - and there are, remember Cajun which gave way to Cuban - then the new hip sound is fado from Portugal. It is music of intense feeling (if in largely unintelligible Portuguese) and one of its biggest names is Mariza, a striking woman with sculpted hair and a sense of sartorial style. Expect fashion magazines to be interested in her.
Elsewhere in the programme are SambaSunda, a 17-piece ensemble from Western Java who blend Indonesian music with Brazilian samba; the Gyuto Monks who bring their Tibetan chants to New Zealand for the first time; and Australian-Middle Eastern singer-songwriter Lior.
Watch out, too, for Israeli singer Yasmin Levy who explores a Judeo-Spanish musical tradition; and Shivkumar Sharma from India who plays the hypnotically chiming santoor.
Local artists include Don McGlashan with the Seven Sisters, the Maori/electronica group Wai, Hollie Smith, and Whirimako Black.
This is a feast of music from around the world - and speaking of feast, next year's Womad unveils a Taste of the World component in which patrons can chow down on various exotic foods from around the world.
Tasty stuff all round.
Lowdown
* What: Womad (World of Music, Arts and Dance)
* Where: Brooklands Park, New Plymouth
* When: March 16-18, 2007.
* Tickets are on sale now.
Also: Music by Etran Finatawa, Salif Keita, Mariza and other Womad artists is on Graham Reid's website: Elsewhere.co.nz
