Womad / Womud

This was our third Womad and the first time it has been at it’s new home in the Earl of Suffolk’s front lawn at Charlton Park in Wiltshire near Malmsbury. Unfortunately for everybody the rain came early (more than a month’s rain in 24hours) and turned the site into a mud bath. Still we understand it was not nearly as bad as Glastonbury, and considering the event population was a mere fraction of theirs, we were thankful. The worst of the weather came early on Thursday as we pitched tents and in the evening on Saturday, so it didn’t stop us getting out to the venue. Our party was boosted this year by three new recruits giving us a good, fun, group,

The mud did slow everybody down around the site and resulted in some stages being closed and some artists being stranded and the programme being changed, so we were not able to see all of the acts we would have wanted to. Nevertheless we did get to see a good few, including:

Blind Boys of Alabama and Solomon Burke – they have been around forever and are still going strong. These energetic performers had to be virtually restrained at times.
Dulsori – Korean drumming almost as a martial art, mad, frantic and full on workout.
Peter Gabriel – celebrating 25 years of Womad he was convinced to play this year.
Kronos Quartet – classical music as you have never heard it before.
Warsaw Village Band – folk music from Eastern Europe played with passion.
Ben Taylor – a very cool and mellow singer-songwriter.
Calexico – one of my favourite bands who play a Tex-Mex style.
Seth Lakeman – He is making British folk cool and is young and good looking at the same time.
The Imagined Village – A folk dream-team and the highlight for us at this year’s event.

Along with the music the site boasted a relaxation area (with many alternative therapies on offer), a cooking tent (with demonstrations of exotic fare), the Steam Powered Fairground, many worthy causes had stalls and of course the shop holders and food stalls. Again this year as previous the Pieminster food stall was voted our favourite (chicken Thai curry pie with mash and gravy being the most popular with our crowd). Naturally some drink was consumed too (rather more than any of us care to remember).

The weather and overindulgence combined with our middle aged frames took its toll and we decamped in the afternoon on Sunday rather than staying for another night, and we were glad to be home to a cleansing bath and comfortable bed.

One particular disappointment was not being able to get to see Te Matarae I Orehu, the Maori song and dance troupe. Paul managed to catch some of their act as we were at another tent and said they were brilliant. Young Tom spent much of the next day on the lookout for fearsome tattooed warriors with their tongues sticking out - like the picture in the programme (unfortunately to no avail).

There is a good chance that we will come back next year.