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| WOMADelaide | |
|---|---|
 Festival logo | |
| Genre | Performing arts festival |
| Frequency | Annually |
| Locations | Botanic Park, Adelaide, Australia |
| Coordinates | 34°54′52″S138°36′39″E / 34.914581°S 138.61075°E /-34.914581; 138.61075 |
| Years active | 13 March 1992 (1992-03-13) – present |
| Inaugurated | 13 March 1992; 33 years ago (1992-03-13) |
| Founders | Peter Gabriel,Thomas Brooman |
| Most recent | 8–11 March 2025 |
| Next event | March 2026 |
| Attendance | 110,000 (2023 - total across the 4 day event, daily capacity is 30,000) |
| Organised by | WOMADelaide Foundation |
| Website | www |
WOMADelaide is an annual four-day festival of music, arts and dance inBotanic Park, Adelaide,South Australia. One of manyWOMAD festivals held around the world, it is an event that presents a diverse selection of music from artists around the world, as well as side events like talks and discussions.
The event is hosted by theWOMAD festivals organisation, which aims "to excite, to create, to inform and to highlight awareness of the worth and potential of a multicultural society".[1][self-published source] The festival encourages people to experience the music of cultures other than their own as a way of developing global understanding,[2][self-published source] and aims to entertain all age groups and people from all backgrounds.[3] WOMADelaide has won the Helpmann Award for "Best Contemporary Music Festival" in 2008[4] and 2016,[5] the Australian Event Awards "Best Cultural, Arts or Music Event" in 2015,[6] and theFowlers Live /SA Music Awards "Best Live Music Event" for five years in a row (2012–2016).[7][self-published source]
WOMADelaide draws its performing artists from all over the world. A specific emphasis is placed on traditional music and performances of various cultures although some more contemporary, popular acts are included. The festival runs from 6 pm to 1 am on Friday, from 12 noon until 1 am on Saturday and from noon until midnight on Sunday. In 2010, WOMADelaide was extended to include Monday from noon until midnight, making the festival four days in length. Artists also lead workshops demonstrating and discussing aspects of their performances on smaller stages. There are also artists who do roving performances through the park and installation pieces, such as La Compagnie Carabosse, who set up large fire installations at the 2005 festival.
WOMADelaide is held in Botanic Park, which is situated north-east of centralAdelaide, between theAdelaide Zoo andAdelaide Botanic Garden. The 34-hectare (84-acre) park is fenced off for the duration of the festival. The main stages are set up around a backstage compound with Stage 1 in the middle and Stages 2 and 3 on either side, all facing out from the backstage area. There are an additional four smaller stages (Zoo Stage, Moreton Bay Stage and two in Speakers Corner). There are also visual arts exhibitions, a KidZone, a Global Village market area with over 100 food, crafts and display stalls, as well as several bars. All front-of-stage areas, the KidZone and the food and drink area are designatedsmoke-free.[citation needed]
WOMADelaide has worked closely with the Office of Zero Waste SA inwaste minimisation. After the 2005 festival, some 6 tonnes (13,000 lb) of compost from WOMADelaide waste were returned to theAdelaide Botanic Garden, in an effort to preserve the delicateecosystem in which the event is located. In 2007, WOMADelaide joined forces withGreening Australia, Australia's largest environmental organisation, to remove theglobal warming impact of the event. The carbon generated through artists' travel, and the festival site lighting and power was offset through the re-vegetation of native bushland in South Australia, which also helped to restore native habitat for rare andendangered species, and to reduce the effects of salinity.[citation needed]
WOMADelaide was first run in 1992 as part of theAdelaide Festival of Arts from an invitation by Rob Brookman to the UK WOMAD organisation to run an event in Adelaide after seeing the success of other WOMADs in Europe. It was due to be held in Long Gully Oval,Belair National Park on a single stage but got moved to Botanic Park at a late stage and after flyers had been printed due to bush fire threats. Three-day passes were priced atA$98, equivalent toA$208 in 2022, reduced toA$80 for concession entitled, with one person under 15 years of age admitted free for each adult ticket. A full day-and-night ticket costs $60 ($45 concession), and individual sessions start at $25.[citation needed]
From 1993 the festival officially moved to Botanic Park, after the threat of bush fires in 1992, and ran every two years (in odd-numbered years) to not conflict with subsequent editions of the Adelaide Festival. Three-day passes were priced at $98 ($80 concession), with one person under 15 years of age admitted free for each adult ticket. Full day-and-night tickets cost $60 ($45 concession). 1993 also saw the first time festival founderPeter Gabriel appear in Australia. Peak audience attendance in 1993 was 33,000.[citation needed]
The 1995 audience attendance was 55,000. Stage 4 was added, as well as The Virtual Artists' internet tent. At the time, a futuristic component of the program withNetscape web browser andCUCME video conferencing software launching that week.The Discovery Channel made a documentary on WOMADelaide's 10-megabyte connection. A one-offCD compilation of artists playing this year,Womadelaide '95, was also released.[citation needed]
From 1996, the management and production of WOMADelaide was taken on by the Adelaide-based company Arts Projects Australia.[8] There was also a small event, the one-off WOMADIndian Pacific train trip fromPerth toPimba across theNullarbor Plain on a chartered Indian Pacific train featuring performances on board the carriages and culminated in a finale concert at Spud's Roadhouse at Pimba, 480 kilometres (300 mi) north of Adelaide. The lineup comprised the following.
1997 peak audience attendance across the weekend: 60,000. A sibling event, WOMAD Pacific, in New Zealand, also founded inAuckland[9] the weekend after WOMADelaide, also bi-annually.
1998 saw another one-off event calledWOMAD in the Vales,[10][11] held at McLaren Vale Oval on 15 March 1998 to celebrate the end ofRobyn Archer's 1998Adelaide Festival of Arts. The lineup comprised the following.
1999 introduced Stage 5 (formerly the Workshop Stage),Angus Watt's flags in collaboration with Anangu Pitjantjatjara Inma artists have since become a mainstay (previously seen, and still present,[as of?] atGlastonbury Festival and the UK WOMAD sites[12]),[13][incomprehensible] KidZone, off-site school based workshops and finally, the WoZone nightclub at the nearbyAdelaide University bar. The WoZone ran on Friday and Saturday from midnight till 5 am, after curfew finished at Botanic Park. Three different rooms for live acts,DJs and chilling out with projections and ambient music. A CD compilation of festival highlights for the Australian and New Zealand events started this year, rather than being a one-off as in 1995.[14][15]
In 2001, to celebrate the United NationsInternational Year of Volunteers, 18 volunteers operated the first information booth, and Stage 5 changed locations.Papa Wemba replaced late cancellationFemi Kuti.[16]
2002 saw another one-off small scale event, calledThe WOMAD Warm-Up, three concerts and three workshops held in September at theAdelaide Festival Centre. The lineup comprised the following.
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In 2003, WOMADelaide became an annual festival, following a decision by theRann government to financially support the event until at least 2009.[17] That year, WOMADelaide Foundation Limited was also established as anot-for-profit organisation.[18] The Foundation presented subsequent festivals and special projects for remoteIndigenous arts communities.[3][self-published source] The festival also moved to February and March to avoid the summer heat. 2003 also introduced the remedial therapy and relaxation area calledSanctuary but later renamedHealing Village. The sibling WOMAD Pacific becameWOMAD New Zealand and an annual event, and moved to its permanent setting in Brooklands Park,New Plymouth inTaranaki. Weekend passes were $158 per adult, $135 for groups of 10 or more, $114 for concessions, with each adult able to bring a child under 12 for free and $52 for each additional child. On Saturday and Sunday, day and night passes were $92, $78, $66 and each additional child $38 respectively. Similarly, Friday and Sunday night passes were $62, $52, $45 and $32 for each additional child respectively, and finally Sunday night passes were $79, $68, $55 and $32 for each additional child respectively. WoZone tickets were $20 at the door, and $10 with a festival ticket stub.
2004 was the year Taste The World was introduced. An innovation that also went to subsequent New Zealand and UK festivals. Also the WOMADelaide Parade began this year. The last WoZone, prices for this were only $5 at the door.
Changes in 2005 included Stage 4 being renamedZoo Stage, Stage 5 renamedMoreton Stage and Stage 6 renamedDell. Festival was officiallycarbon neutral for the first time, and on-siteATMs were introduced.
The 2006 event saw Speakers Corner introduced as well as the Parachilna Garden Cafe, the on-site restaurant run in partnership with Andrew Fielke from the Prairie Hotel in the Flinders Ranges. Also, Talvin Singh had the honour of being the first DJ in Botanic Park when he played on Stage 3. Tickets were priced at $172 for the weekend, discounted Friends of the Adelaide Festival or groups of 10 or more were $149, and concessions at $125. Three days passes were priced at $220 for the weekend, discounted Friends of the Adelaide Festival or groups of 10 or more were $184, and concessions $165. Friday tickets were $75, $68 and $60 respectively, and Saturday and Sunday were $98, $85, $73 respectively.
2007 a cinema and pharmacy were added, and DJs closed the festival each night in Speakers Corner. Workshops were help for visual arts at the Park Arts and Functions Complex, and weekend pass tickets were $182 for adults, $154 for groups of 10 or more, and $135 for concessions.
In 2008 a one-off Eco Village joined the site.
In 2009 the first WOMADelaide Forest was planted, in partnership withGreening Australia in South East Australia. KidZone had a stage from 2009, and track matting pathways were also added to combat both dry and wet conditions.
In 2010, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Adelaide Festival of Arts, WOMADelaide extended to four days. Due to overwhelming popularity, the festival has continued at this length.[19] That year, WOMADelaide was produced and presented by the WOMADelaide Foundation, was managed by Arts Projects Australia and WOMAD Ltd, and was presented in association with theGovernment of South Australia.[20][self-published source]
In 2015 theSouth Australian Tourism Commission (an agency of the Government of South Australia) replaced the Government of South Australia as the event's new principal partner. As of 2017, the South Australian Tourism Commission remains the event's principal partner.
In 2017, WOMADelaide became asmoke-free event, with provision for smoking in three designated areas.[21][self-published source] In addition to a festival highlights CD, aDVD was also released this year as a one-off.
The last annual festival highlights CD was released in 2020.[22][full citation needed]
In 2021, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, WOMADelaide was held inKing Rodney Park / Ityamai-itpina instead of its usual location at Botanic Park, so that the venue could comply with theCOVID-19 restrictions.[23][24] The format was changed to a series of seated concerts on a single stage, opening withArchie Roach and closing withMidnight Oil and First Nations collaborators on theirMakarrata Live project.[25][self-published source] This was also the first year ofWOMADelaide x NSS Academy, a collaboration with the youth music centreNorthern Sound System, which was established to provide training and development program for emergingAboriginal South Australians andmulticultural artists. The program identified 10 artists in its first year or operation, with musical duoMRLN x RKM selected to supportVika and Linda and Midnight Oil at WOMAD.[26][self-published source][27]
In 2022 the festival returned to Botanic Park for the festival's 30th celebrations.[28]
In 2023 the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia waned, and the event sold out its first three days (Friday–Sunday)[29] for the first time, and was nearly sold out for its final day on the public holiday Monday.
A day only event (with full weekend tickets also available, no camping on site), WOMADelaide has grown steadily in audience size from 30,000 in 1993 to over 90,000 over the four day events annually since 2014. "About 95,000" people attended in 2015.[30] All prior attendance records were broken in 2016 when over 95,000 people attended over the course of the weekend.[31]
In 2008 WOMADelaide won the FasterLouder Festival Award for best Sound and Production.[32] WOMADelaide also received the 2008Helpmann Award for Best Contemporary Music Festival.[33]
TheNational Live Music Awards are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Live Music Awards of 2016[34] | WOMADelaide | South Australian Live Event of the Year | Won |
| National Live Music Awards of 2020[35] | WOMADelaide | Best Live Music Festival or Event | Nominated |
| National Live Music Awards of 2023[36] | WOMADelaide | Best Live Event in SA | Won |
TheSouth Australian Music Awards (previously known as the Fowler's Live Music Awards) are annual awards that exist to recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the South Australian contemporary music industry. They commenced in 2012.[37] WOMADelaide won five awards.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result(wins only) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | WOMADelaide | Most Popular SA Live Music Event | Won |
| 2013 | WOMADelaide | Favourite SA Live Music Event | Won |
| 2014 | WOMADelaide | Favourite SA Live Music Event | Won |
| 2015 | WOMADelaide | Best Festival / Music Event | Won |
| 2016 | WOMADelaide | Best Festival / Music Event | Won |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)[self-published source]