Womad stages its biggest show this year

SINGAPORE : Six stages, a holistic corner and feel-good vibes - Womad (World of Music, Arts and Dance) opens on Friday at Fort Canning Park.

Now in its 10th year, it is expected to draw over 20,000 visitors with returning acts Asian Dub Foundation (ADF), Johnny Kalsi and Daara J as headliners. This year’s show is also the biggest so far, with an additional stage over last year’s five, and a new “holistic corner” where concertgoers can opt for reiki healing and palm-reading as a chillout alternative to the partying.

Launched by British musician Peter Gabriel in England in 1982, the annual event has been staged in more than 27 countries worldwide including Sri Lanka, Colombia, South Korea and the Canary Islands.

The Singaporean version debuted in 1998 as a curtain raiser for the Singapore Arts Festival. It was an instant hit, and became a stand-alone event the following year. Womad costs about $1.2 million each year to produce.

Besides Anglo-Indian electro rockers ADF, Anglo-Indian percussion Johhny Kalsi, African hip-hop troupe Daara J this year, other acts worth the ticket price are Senegalese pop titan Youssou N’Dour, British-Indian vocalist Sheila Chandra, Cameroonian troubadour Muntu Valdo as well as classical music singer David D’Or from Israel.

“It’s essentially Woodstock unplugged,” said long-time fan Marc Grigoroft, a 52-year-old creative director at an advertising company.

The comparison is apt: Just as Woodstock provided the unifying bond through rock music in 1969, Womad has exposed heartlanders (in Singapore, at least) - through its annual outreach programmes held in neighbourhoods like Tampines, Punggol and Hougang — to genres as far flung as Nigerian desert blues, Brazilian samba to Senegalese hip-hop.

Still making waves after a decade, here’s why you shouldn’t miss Womad this year...

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