More than 15,000 people attended New Plymouth's Womad festival each day over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Photo / Charlotte Curd
More than 15,000 people attended New Plymouth's Womad festival each day over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Photo / Charlotte Curd
REVIEW:
Eight stages, two weeks of set up, 15km of fencing and more than 600 volunteers, New Plymouth’s Womad is a mammoth undertaking.
Nestled in the postcard-worthy Pukekura Park, the World of Music, Arts and Dance is where thousands of festival-goers - a good chunk of them from overseas - flock to every March and they’ve been waiting for their fix.
The future of the festival looked shaky only 24 months ago, but it’s returned with flair. On the bill were talented names in world music - albeit names probably unknown to most Kiwis, but that is the very attraction of it.
There is a big chunk of the audience who live and breathe world music but there are also those who’ve come for a look or to experience the vibe.
You could be drawn to the exotic food stalls, poetry slam, cooking demonstrations or perhaps a taiko drumming workshop.
The festival is an exercise in discovery and everyone finds something new.
Separating 15,000 party-goers and the action is the Bowl of Brooklands lake. Photo / Ethan Griffiths
Organisers - the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust - strike a perfect balance between predominantly international acts and exceptional local ones. The festival is as diverse as you can get - but maintains a slice of Kiwi.
Meute, a bunch of youngish blokes from Germany, belted out some booming tunes courtesy of their horns, drums and keys. The ”techno marching band” was a crowd favourite, dishing up their own beats and other well-known tunes from the likes of Flume. It was unorthodox, but seriously neat.
One of the bigger New Zealand acts, Avantdale Bowling Club lit the Brooklands stage on fire with their frontman Tom Scott proving he is a force to be reckoned with.
His entire set was a bold political statement on inequality, housing and Māori sovereignty. Landlords in the audience were given forewarning by the rapper, and the left side of the audience, Scott declared, were his “people”.
The crowd must have been slightly jarring for Scott. “World of Middle Aged Demographics” he later declared to the audience, which no doubt included many landlords.
Deva Mahal, with both American and Aotearoa roots, was a festival highlight. Photo / Ethan Griffiths
Deva Mahal, a soulful artist with Hawaiian and Aotearoa roots, was a highlight. Her first of two sets saw her grace the intimate Dell stage, where the power of her writing paired with a breathtaking voice made for a very special hour.
Other local acts included Wellington’s Kita and the ever-brilliant Fly My Pretties, a collaborative group made up of too many local music legends to list.
Sampa the Great and her all-Zambian band closed the Bowl stage on Sunday night with perhaps the most energetic performance of the festival. She held the crowd captive, later bringing out Angelique Kidjo as a special treat.
Festival favourite Meute, a German-based 'techno marching band' performed twice. Photo / Ethan Griffiths
For Taranaki, Womad represents the biggest weekend of the year. The city doesn’t grind to a halt - it moves up a gear.
Celebrating 20 years, the festival has always been a boom for local hospitality, and a big circle on the calendars of local partygoers. This year was my seventh, and time and time again it returns as good as ever.
I, and no doubt many others, have walked away from the festival having utterly dumbfounded our Spotify algorithm with German marching bands and Garafunian rhythms but Womad leaves you with much more than just three days in the sun.
