Dancers from the Mudra Dance Company demonstrated some incredible swift and rhythmic percussive footwork during their performance. Photo / Ilona Hanne
Dancers from the Mudra Dance Company demonstrated some incredible swift and rhythmic percussive footwork during their performance. Photo / Ilona Hanne
Taranaki put on the weather, and the entertainment, for the thousands of festival fans who flocked to the region for Womad NZ over the weekend.
With more than 15,000 people through the gates each day, the three-day festival was a smorgasbord of music, dance, food, culture, poetry and more, and the fans loved it.
Eleven-piece techno marching band from Germany, Meute, got the crowd dancing on Saturday night with a performance on the Todd Energy Brooklands stage. Photo / Ilona Hanne
From Meute - the eleven-piece techno marching band from Hamburg, Germany - whose incredible energy, sense of fun and great tunes got the crowds dancing at both their shows, to the mesmerising swift and rhythmic percussive footwork and elegant and skilled dances from Mudra Dance Company, there was something for everyone.
The Hits Taranaki team were out and about with free sunscreen available to keep the crowd sun safe. Photo / Ilona Hanne
The Hits Taranaki team were out and about all weekend, offering festival-goers free sunscreen as well as the chance to go into a draw to win tickets for Womad 2024, with many festival goers already saying they would be back for next year’s festival.
“It’s just been brilliant, every minute we’ve been here has been incredible. It’s the whole vibe - the music is great, but so is the other stuff too, I’ve come across so many new writers, poets, performers and so on that I had never heard of before and now my Google history is packed with looking them up to find out more. And the food of course is just incredible - so many different global tastes to try.”
Ana Leihner, who was at the festival with her husband Tobias, said they had bought tickets after hearing fellow guests in a backpackers hostel talk about Womad.
“We’ve never been before, but we will be back. I know it is in other countries too but I think the crowds here, perhaps they are better as everyone we have met is so friendly and kind. We have made many new friends here.”
The Papa tākaro / Kidzone areas was also a hit, with tamariki loving the chance to get involved, with everything from art stations to storytime on offer as well as facepainting, the chance to learn new skills, and plenty of games to play.
For 7-year-old Lena Mellier, painting a banner to carry in the kids’ parade was one of her favourite parts, as well as having a go at poi.
“In Canada, where I live, we don’t have them [poi] but I am going to show my friends back at my school and maybe we can learn after school, it will be fun, and they are easy to make.”
Lena’s father Armaud said the Kidzone was a great way for parents to relax.
“Lena’s mother and I, we go to festivals a lot, but we can’t always bring Lena and her sister because they are more just for adults. Here we can all come as a family and experience it together.”
UK-born, Auckland-based Nigerian hi-hop artist, producer and social media content creator Mazbou Q drew a large crowd to his cooking demonstration. Photo / Ilona Hanne
Another crowd pleaser was the Taste the World stage, where a range of artists shared their family recipes, and personal stories, with the audience. UK-born, Auckland-based Nigerian New Zealand hi-hop artist, producer and social media content creator Mazbou Q was one of the artists to turn chef, sharing his recipe for jollof rice.
“It’s a controversial dish,” he said.
“Every country across west Africa, they say theirs is the best.”
His own version had been tweaked over the years, he said, adding his grandmother might not approve of some of the changes and shortcuts he was introducing. No matter what however, onions were a key part he said.
“You know, if you aren’t cooking with onions, you probably aren’t doing it right. No matter what the dish is.”
Right next door to the Taste the World stage was the Kunming Garden, where poets, authors and writers shared their stories and words with packed audiences.
On Sunday, Daren Kamali was one of the poets to take to the stage, with standing room only as he shared his poetry. As the husband of deputy prime minister Carmel Sepuloni, the first MP of Tongan descent, he told the audience he was a poly-poet married to a poly-tician.
600 volunteers joined hundreds of staff to keep Womad NZ running smoothly throughout, with a team of workers on site 12 days beforehand beginning the set-up. It takes a further four days after the festival ends for everything to be packed down, including the 15km of fencing erected to keep festival-goers safe during the festival. Brooklands Zoo animals will also be returned to their enclosures, with some having been moved to other locations while Kidzone ran in the zoo space.
Taranaki Arts Festival Trust (TAFT) chief executive Suzanne Porter said the TAFT team were “back in their groove” and she was proud of their mahi in presenting “a seamless, beautiful festival”.
“Womad is what the world needs right now to celebrate, focus on the positive and leave the grind of daily life behind.”
Dates for the 2024 festival have been announced as March 15-17 and more details will be available on the WOMAD website soon.
