World of Music, Arts and Dance
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World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) is a festival started in Shepton Mallet, England in 1982. The festival was pioneered by Peter Gabriel and various others including Stephen Pritchard, through their interest in sharing and celebrating world music, arts and dance. A typical festival will include varied live musical performances, workshops, stalls and events for children.
WOMAD currently holds festivals in over 20 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, UK, U.S. and many European countries. The last USA concert was held on July 27 - 29, 2001 in Redmond, Washington. The 2002 and 2003 USA concerts were cancelled due to the financial consequences of 9/11 and difficulties in obtaining visas for international performers.
WOMAD has pioneered the growing acceptance and enjoyment of World music by western society. The festival now draws crowds of over 80,000 people per event, and competes on equal terms with other mainstream western festivals globally.
Over the years, WOMAD has helped launch, boost or revive the careers of many world music (and other) artists, including the Master Drummers of Burundi, the Afro Celt Sound System, the Dhol Foundation, Ozomatli and the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
A feature of all the festivals are the flags, which are made especially for Womad, with designs being loaned to such festivals as the Glastonbury Festival, and such places as the Eden Project.
There are a number of regular festivals that WOMAD holds, such as (as of 2007):
- WOMADelaide – South Australia
- WOMAD New Zealand
- WOMAD Cáceres – Spain
- WOMAD Taormina – Sicily
- WOMAD Charlton Park – United Kingdom (which replaced Womad Reading
- WOMAD Canarias – Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain)
They also hold one off festivals, such as Live 8 Africa Calling, part of the Live 8 concerts, and the Sri Lankan Festival of the Drum in 2005.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Official WOMADelaide Website
- Official WOMAD Singapore Website
- WOMAD HITS CAMPUS Read More on The UrbanWire
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