WOMADelaide 2011 will be held from Friday 11 - Monday 14 March outdoors in Adelaide's beautiful Botanic Park.
The WOMAD - ‘World of Music, Arts & Dance’ festival was co-founded in the UK by Peter Gabriel and was first presented in Australia as WOMADelaide in 1992. Since then it has gone on to become one of Australia's favourite outdoor festivals and in 2010 it attracted 81,500 attendences over four days (not including children 12 and under, who are admitted free).
The program features performances and workshops on seven stages by some of the world's best musicians, dancers and DJs, alongside street theatre and visual artists, the popular Taste the World cooking program, Artists in Conversations sessions and an All-Star Gala finale.
WOMADELAIDE ANNOUNCES STELLAR FULL PROGRAM FOR 2011 FESTIVAL
Australia’s most diverse and exciting festival line-up has been revealed, as WOMADelaide announced another 41 groups for its 2011 program.
Now boasting more than 50 groups (550 artists) from 30 countries , Adelaide’s Botanic Park will again be the stunning backdrop for Australia’s most iconic four day celebration of music, arts and dance FROM AROUND THE WORLD as thousands make their annual pilgrimage to be part of WOMADelaide from 11 March to 14 March 2011.
The line-up, posted on www.womadelaide.com.au heralds an impressive collection of Australian firsts and the WOMADelaide debut of many established and emerging stars from around the world. Added to the preview line-up that included Angus and Julia Stone and music legends Afro Celt Sound System, are Mali’s
internationally celebrated husband and wife act Amadou and Mariam, famed US indie-folk harpist Joanna Newsom, punk-reggae icon Don Letts, pioneering UK DJ Norman Jay, Nigerian singer-songwriter Asa, a young soul-folk artist that is currently taking the French charts by storm, Ireland’s sassy rockabilly singer, Imelda May and the mighty big band that is Juan De Marcos Afro-Cuban All Stars .
The Australian program includes East Coast blues king Ash Grunwald and two rare performances by the cult experimental group, The Necks.
Amadou and Mariam’s Amadou Bagayoko said he is looking forward to WOMADelaide as he has so many great memories of performing in Australia. "It's always a pleasure to go to Australia, we love the audience there," he said.
Dance, visual arts, street theatre and food will again play a prominent part in the WOMADelaide experience.
France’s Le Phun will spend three weeks leading up the festival building six magical installations for their performance piece Les Gûmes (a play on ‘legumes’, the French word for vegetables), where a surprising society has taken root in a vegetable kingdom and mutated into half-human, half-plant beings. Contemporary dance lovers can look forward to Breathe - a world premiere collaboration between Leigh Warren & Dancers , Bangarra’s Frances Rings and internationally acclaimed digeridoo player William Barton.
In addition to performances, workshops, Artists In Conversation, 12 Taste the World cooking sessions by artists and guest super-chefs, the festival will include the family favourite KidZone, with free activities all weekend, plus over 100 food, crafts and display stalls and an animal-themed parade made up of hundreds of WOMADelaide kids.
