Life's a beach at Womad

Revellers at this year’s Womad festival will get the chance to ditch their tents for a plush beach hut or stunning teepee. Music fans can say goodbye to the ground sheets and camping tables for a foam sofa bed, table and table lamp in the two-man huts or cosy down in one of the towering wigwams. The facilities are just some of a host of changes to be announced by the organisers of the World of Music, Arts and Dance extravaganza to make the increasingly popular festival bigger and better than ever.

More than 27,000 world music fans are expected to turn up to the Richfield Avenue site at the end of July for the 17th annual family-friendly event. This year will also boast a giant stage in three sections, which will host cinema and cabaret shows as well as scores of workshops. Revellers will also get a chance to try out a silent disco – where people get boogying to music via headphones – over the three-day event.

For the first time, there will also be comedy, with performances by political stand-up act Mark Thomas and children’s comic James Campbell, among the star turns due to make an appearance. Bobby Lonergan, of festival partner organisation, Reading Arts, said the site – traditionally the field outside Rivermead – would also be bigger this year. A deal has been done with Mean Fiddler, which organises the Reading Rock Festival and owns Little John’s Farm, land adjacent to the Rivermead site, to use part of Little John’s Farm for the new initiatives.

He also said the licensing application for the revamped festival was still on the drawing board but once approved by Reading Borough Council, it would be valid for several years. More showers and toilets – the lack of which last year resulted in an unpleasant whiff across the site – will also be brought in, Mr Lonergan added.

And to the delight of the festival’s aficionados, the beautiful handmade flags symbolising peace and friendship will make a return. Each year the festival, which is the brainchild of rock legend Peter Gabriel and is organised by the Womad Festival Organisation, brings more than 80 artists from 40 different countries to the town. This year, artists including Anoushka Shankar of India and American folk singer Nanci Griffith will appear.

Weekend tickets priced at £110 as well as day passes, with prices ranging from £35 to £55, are still available. For information and ticket bookings, please call the Womad hotline on (0118) 939 0930. For details about the beach huts and teepees, visit www.womad.org/reading and click on the ‘location’ link. You can hire a traditional beach hut for two for £450 and the traditional Native American teepees, which can sleep up to 10 people, will also be on offer at prices ranging from £290 to £690.