One month until WOMAD celebrates 40th year with a world class line-up

ONE MONTH UNTIL WOMAD 2022: LEGENDARY FESTIVAL CELEBRATES 40^th YEAR WITH A WORLD CLASS LINE-UP

ANGELIQUE KIDJO, FATOUMATA DIAWARA, GILBERTO GIL & FAMILY, THE SELECTER, KAE TEMPEST, THE FLAMING LIPS, THE SUGARHILL GANG, FANTASTIC NEGRITO, NITIN SAWHNEY, LIANNE LA HAVAS, GREENTEA PENG AND OSIBISA ALL TO JOIN THE GLORIOUS GLOBAL PARTY

In just one month, WOMAD will have a lot to celebrate as it marks it’s 40^th year with another glorious melting pot of music from across the world.

Over the past 40 years WOMAD has proven that music, art and dance have the power to build bridges between communities and inspire real change. Its global music legacy includes over 300 festivals around the world, providing a platform for over 10,000 artists from over 100 nations across sixcontinents to millions of people. No other festival in the world has done this.

WOMAD at Charlton Park, from 28 – 31 July 2022, will celebrate community, friendship, diversity and tolerance, uniting a world fractured by fear and political division

Chris Smith, Festival Director said: “We are so excited that we have only a month to go until our biggest celebration of music and culture from across the world to date.  This is only possible because of the incredible support we have had from artists, suppliers, staff and the amazing WOMAD community.

In an unpredictable, splintered and sometimes scary world, at WOMAD we stand firm in the belief that the world is a better place when global communities come together and share the richness of our cultures not the power of our weapons and the inhumanity of our politics.

WOMAD 2022 will as always demonstrate that our communal love of music, arts and discovery of new cultures is more powerful than what divides us”.

This summer, audiences will be able to discover and delight in a huge variety of artists including esteemed Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara’s (Mali) whose distinctive, energetic, and powerful performance will kick off the anniversary event on Thursday night. The legendary Angelique Kidjo (Benin) will perform her electrifying reimagination of Talking Heads’ Remain in Light on Saturday, and another WOMAD legend - godfather of the past half-century of Brazilian music- Gilberto Gil & Family (Brazil) will return to the festival on Sunday evening.

Returning to WOMAD from West Africa is the magical kora player and singer Sona Jobarteh (Gambia), the thrilling all-female supergroup Les Amazones d’Afrique, a creative force whose vibrant harmonies are a call to arms to the women of the world to unite, and musical polymath Nitin Sawhney (UK) who returns to WOMAD with his latest album Immigrants, the sequel to the 1999 Mercury-nominated Beyond Skin, along with music from his prolific back catalogue. 

Music legends gracing the WOMAD stage for the first time in 2022 include The Flaming Lips (US) and their frenetic labyrinth of psychedelic anthems; and one of the most influential hip-hop groups of all time, also celebrating their 40^th anniversary, The Sugarhill Gang (US) famous for the 1979 track Rappers Delight. Fantastic Negrito’s (US) whose backstory reads like something out of a film; leaving home at 12, hustling his way to a record deal in LA before a horrific car crash broke all his limbs and left him in a coma – now he is a one-man performing whirlwind who mixes soul, blues and R&B to tell his story through his music.

On top of that WOMAD will welcome award-winning wordsmith Kae Tempest (UK), and acclaimed singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas (UK) who will deliver a beautiful dialogue between soul, pop, folk, and jazz. Ukrainian folk band Folknery will make their debut along with the only all-female mariachi band in Europe, Mariachi Las Adelitas (Mexico/Cuba/Colombia/Italy/UK), a multi-national mariachi band born out of a desire to shatter stereotypes within this traditionally male-dominated genre.

On top of the musical delights there are plenty of other activities, sights, sounds and smells across this lush Wiltshire country park.

Some of the weekend’s performers will get the chance to show off their culinary credentials at the totally unique Taste the World stage. There is the tranquility of the World of Wellbeing and luxury of the WOMAD Spa. Festivalgoers have the unique opportunity to get involved and learn from the experts the incredible skills on show at Charlton Park with a whole array of workshops; from taking dance lessons to picking up a musical instrument from the other side of the globe. Celebrate the spoken word at the World of Words with author talks, debates, and discussions. And there are, of course, more child-friendly activities and workshops than any other festival, at the World of Children, the culmination of which is the now-legendary Sunday afternoon parade across the Charlton Park site.

For the details as available including day splits please see the lineup page.

Tickets

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4 day adult ticket including camping is £255.

3 day adult ticket including camping is £205.

see the ticket page for other ticket options.

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