Womad celebrates 21st year in style
For 5-year-old Lena Moffat, the best thing about Womad 2024 was, well, everything.
Oh, but especially the fact that she got a rainbow painted on her arm when she went to the first aid tent.
“How special is that?” said her dad, Kay Karstaedt, who is originally from Berlin but now lives in Taranaki.
Lena and Karstaedt were among an average of about 16,000 people who turned out each day for the three-day music festival in New Plymouth’s Brooklands Park over the weekend.
Womad is the place where sequins are stuck on faces, out-of-this-world outfits are worn, and arms are waved in the air like people just don’t care.
It was Lena’s second time at Womad, and Karstaedt had been five times before.
“Dakhabrakha were amazing, Dubioza Kolektiv were wow, and then we stood in line for face painting. We like the dancing,” he said.
With 45 international artists across eight stages, Womad celebrated its 21st year this festival. Other than a few showers on Friday night, the weather played ball for the rest of the weekend.
Big crowds gathered for acts such as Pongo, a Nigerian dancing group who got amongst the crowd and had everyone moving, and Ibibio Sound Machine, who packed out the Bowl of Brooklands stage.
Beyond the musical performances, there were also a series of talks and workshops covering topics from global environmental issues to indigenous storytelling, alongside ever-popular cooking demonstrations and a plethora of food stalls that offered an authentic taste of world cuisine.
World of Words acts such as comedian Tom Sainsbury, who hit the stage on Saturday, also drew massive crowds, with many people having to stand at the back.
Festival headliner Ziggy Marley, a Jamaican reggae musician and son of Bob Marley, also pulled in a massive crowd on Saturday night at the Bowl of Brooklands stage.
This was despite a small number of pro-palestine protesters who waved flags during the gig over concerns about Marley’s stance on the Israel-hamas conflict.
A petition to remove him from the festival had been launched earlier this year in protest at his reported attendance at a 2018 fundraiser held in Los Angeles for the Israeli Defence Forces.
At the time, a Womad NZ spokesperson said there were no planned changes to the 2024 line-up in light of the petition.
On Saturday, Marley was welcomed on stage by a haka and a passionate welcome from Womad NZ’S iwi liaison manager, Wharehoka Wano.
Getting the park festival-ready required 17 kilometres of fencing to ensure safety and security, with a dedicated team spending 14 days preparing the venue.
It will take another five days after the festival to return the site to its natural state.
Suzanne Porter, the chief executive of the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust, Womad NZ’S partner, said in a statement: “The spirit and dedication of everyone involved have once again created an exceptional festival experience. “Womad is a testament to the power of music and culture in bringing people together. A heartfelt thank you to all who joined us in this celebration.”