South Australia’s beloved WOMADelaide is about to kick off.

The iconic open-air music festival has enjoyed a storied history from the early 90s, when it first developed in Adelaide as a response to the WOMAD Organisation in the UK (co-founded by music legend Peter Gabriel).

In the early days of the festival’s inception, Gabriel said, “Music is a universal language. “It draws people together and proves, as well anything, the stupidity of racism.”

And since its genesis WOMAD has certainly lived up to its aims to celebrate diversity and to encourage the infallible interpersonal connections that art can uphold.

This year, WOMADelaide is taking place from March 7th to March 10th. And several local Adelaide musicians are set to take the stage, but just before they do so, they have joined us to answer the question: What does WOMAD mean to you and why is it so important to Adelaide?

Read their answers below.

Dojo Rise - Adam Blesing

Womad means the world to us, it has been a lifelong dream to play at Womad, to us, it’s the holy grail. To Adelaide, it’s a connection to the world, to have so many artists from all over the world share their stories and sounds is just so eye opening, inspirational and healing. Apart from that, it’s just so much fun to dance for 4 days in the beautiful parklands!

Forging their own unique footprint in the music world, Dojo Rise brings a vibrant uplifting sound; an award winning eclectic fusion of alternative reggae, rock, pop and indie soul.

Ms Chipeta - Liv

WOMAD is an inclusive, family-friendly festival that celebrates the universal language of music by bringing together an eclectic curation of artists and their art to our little country city. This is special to me as a woman of colour; I get to enjoy the diversity of people and music all around me for four jam-packed days! As a mother, I am excited to share this experience with my children, and I know it is a yearly tradition for many families in Adelaide.

Hailing from Adelaide / Tarntanya, Ms Chipeta is a Malawian-Australian singer songwriter musing on matters of the heart. Leaning into softness and femininity, music is her space for self exploration. Always chasing connection, Ms Chipeta draws inspiration from a unique blend of RnB, soft pop and alternative / indie. 

The Lofty Mountain Band - Max Savage

I was at the first Womadelaide. I was two. I sat in a tree and watched Crowded House. I saw Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It felt like church. The memory is sharp.

Each year was an adventure and a homecoming. My parents recorded broadcasts from Radio National. We played those tapes until they broke. Later, we bought CDs at the festival store: Baaba Maal, Geoffrey Oreyema, Zap Mama.

At Womadelaide, I learned anyone could play music. Mongolian herders did it. Indian masters did it. Grandparents did it. Kids did it. In a town that often felt parochial and small, the festival painted a map of the world in vivid colour.

Local artists shared stages with legends. Fruit, Abbie Cardwell, The Audreys, Liam Gerner - It seemed normal then. It seems important now. And somewhere amongst the breathless bacchanal of Shooglenifty, the effortless cool of Ernest Ranglin or the cerebral wonder of Amjad Ali Khan, generations of Adelaide musicians learned to be fearless, wild and strange.

This year, my son will see his first Womadelaide. The circle continues.

The Adelaide-based Lofty Mountain Band brings to the stage an exhilarating mix of strings, blending traditional folk, bluegrass, country and pop music in a miraculous cacophony of banjo, guitar, mandolin and fiddle. Combining tight vocal harmonies, virtuosic playing, yearning, wit and melancholy, their music is ethereal yet grounded, often devastating and occasionally transcendent.

Meena De Silva

WOMAD is a festival of unique and diverse artists, those out of the mainstream who have come to our city to perform to our people. To have these big artists come to our city, setting up shop in the gorgeous Botanic Park / Tainmuntilla is something we all look forward to once a year. It has always been a wild and free spectacle that I didn’t think was in reach for me as a performer anytime soon! To have my name sit amongst the artists in the star-studded lineup this year is a real honour, and I cannot wait to make my mark on that stage - this will be the biggest stage I’ve performed on by far. The WOMAD audiences are renowned for being joyful, attentive and up for anything, and my band and I are so ready to get them up and dancing, and to hopefully make a lasting connection with them.

Meena De Silva has forged her own path in the Adelaide Pop/RnB scene with her sophisticated, warm keys and honey-toned voice. Her sometimes joyful, sometimes heartbreaking lyrics will get you moving on your feet, or swaying in your seat. 

Kara Manansala

WOMAD to me is such a beautiful gathering of culture, art and togetherness. Just being in the park, I’m surrounded by this buzz of feeling connected and inspired. I love that art of every kind, from every corner or the world, from music to dance to food is both welcome and celebrated. To be performing as part of this lineup is truly surreal. For Kaurna country (Adelaide) to be home to this event is so special—we are sometimes seen as one of the quieter cities, and to have such international liveliness fill our beautiful parklands is such a treasure for people living here. 

A Filipino-Italian music maker and storyteller, living and creating in Tarntanya/Adelaide, Manansala’s music has evolved out of a love for neo-soul, R ’n’ B, and jazz, which she studied at Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music. A versatile and sought-after musician, she has lent her voice to projects including working with world-renowned drummer Alexander Flood and funk band Bend.

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WOMAD will kick off to much fanfare this Friday, March 7th.