Afro Celt Sound System at WOMAD

A pioneering and thrilling live band, Afro Celt Sound System return to live action this summer for the first time in five years. Twice Grammy-nominated and multi-million album selling band are coming to WOMAD New Zealand in less than 2 weeks.

As all the acts that come to WOMAD are top class world performers it is sometimes hard to figure out who you should see perform and in what order. If you are unsure here are some reasons to put Afro Celt Sound System onto your own personalized must see list. 

Inspired by the link between Irish and African traditions Afro Celt Sound System was born in 1995 as a collaborative effort of four like-minded souls:  Iarla O’Lionaird, Simon Emmerson, James McNally and Martin Russell.

Over the years they have formed an ever-changing collaborative collective with numerous outstanding guest performers who have taken cross-cultural fusion to dizzying heights. As well as Johnny Kalsi and N'Faly Koyate who will both be performing with the band at WOMAD  this year they have been joined in the past by a host of names from Robert Plant  to Sinead O Connor, Davy Spillane to Liam O'Flynn, Peter Gabriel and Eileen Ivers and that’s only to name a few.

This ensemble also enjoys a formidable live reputation and has delivered pulsating performances at major festivals including WOMAD, Glastonbury, Montreux Jazz Festival – and wowed crowds with stellar gigs at WOMADelaide 1997 and 2001.

If this sounds like you be sure to catch Afro Celt Sound System on Friday the 18^th of March at 10pm at the TSB Bowl stage and at 9:30pm on the Todd Energy Brooklands stage on Sunday the 20^th of March at WOMAD.

Kidzone

Take the family along to Kidszone at WOMAD this year and see why we pride ourselves on being the most family friendly music festival in New Zealand and have activities for all ages. 

The Kidzone is somewhere for the younger WOMAD fans to have fun with other kids and be adventurous and creative with one another.

Evelyn Roth’s Nylon Zoo is where children can sit inside the belly of Australian animals; the inflatable’s are stitched from hundreds of pieces of colored nylon, where you can listen to vibrant story telling.

If that is not enough you and your children can join the Costume Parade where kids can become a kangaroo, a butterfly, bird or even a hopping frog. There is also the special community based Funky Junk group which makes and plays instruments using all sorts of junk, spare parts, odds and ends, Funky Junk are from right here in New Zealand.

Legendry Linsey Pollak will be at Kidzone teaching the art of panpipe making, (Linsey is also one half of the musical talent behind Dva and Shopska Salata who is also performing at WOMAD this year). Spin art and a kids’ graffiti wall will also be at Kidzone with guidance of expert graffiti artists.  

On Sunday at 6pm join the WOMAD Carnival Parade and bring along all the art, musical instruments and costumes that has been created throughout the weekend. 

Don’t forget that children 12 under are free. To find Kidzone at WOMAD this year follow the magical and colorful footprints through the WOMAD store, WOMAD hopes to see all those little happy smiling faces there.

The Village of Wellness

2011 will see an amazing new addition to the scene at WOMAD with the arrival of the Village of Wellness.  The Village of Wellness is designed to be a peaceful place where our lovely WOMADers can go to relax and recharge their batteries by reviving their bodies, minds and souls!

As punters at the Village of Wellness you will be able to indulge your bodies by having a massage from your choice of  a group of experts in the field who are trained in a variety of different techniques including deep tissue, lomo lomo (Hawaiian), Fofo (Samoan), miri miri (Maori) techniques – choosing how you will treat your body might be hard though as their will be plenty to choose from – you can even get a divine Indian head massage, hand reflexology, a facial with all organic products or have a foot spa to rest your tired dancing feet! 

The Village of Wellness will also offer you the chance to be able to get just the right balance within as you indulge in your spiritual side! Yes that’s right, if you choose to, this year at WOMAD for the first time you will have the opportunity to employ the guidance of experienced practitioners who have a solid background in the spiritual field and will be offering various kinds of spiritual readings ,from angel readings, clairvoyant readings, channeled drawings and life-coaching!  There will also be reiki and other forms of energy and spiritual healing to choose from!

So, if you have been dreaming of a massage to ease your tired body, or you have been curious to explore your spiritual side a little more or get some guidance, you can now do both in the Village of Wellness at WOMAD 2011!

Dance Zone at WOMAD

Putting the ‘D’ for Dance into WOMAD is a brand new Dance Zone in the Kunming Garden. The Dance Zone will include interactive dance workshops and demonstrations with live music, for all ages, featuring Brazilian workshops in samba, maculele and capoeira; hula from Hawai’i, and Chinese dragon and lion dancing. Maori and Pasifika dance workshops will also be offered in the Te Pae Pae area, and Columbian group Sidestepper will present workshops onstage.

Wellington-based performers and teachers, from Zamba Bem and Capoeira Arunde will teach dances of Brazil including samba, maculele and capoeira.  Maculelê is an Afro-Brazilian dance and a martial art where a number of people gather in a circle called a roda and use sticks. Samba is the national dance of Brazil and is perhaps one of the most energetic and exhilarating of Latin dances! Originally created by slaves brought to Brazil from Africa, Capoeira is an art form that encompasses dance, martial arts, acrobatics, music and philosophy.

The Wellington Sports and Cultural Centre Dragon Dance Team was the first New Zealand group to compete in the World Dragon Dance Championships in Hong Kong in 2010. Their spectacular and acrobatic performance involves a team of 13 highly synchronised dancers with live music. Learn some fun moves at the Dance Zone. For all ages with some baby dragons available for kids.

Whitireia Performing Arts Group mix the challenge of the Maori haka, the joy and energy of Samoa and sensual rhythms and drums of the Cook Islands.  Graduates and students from Whitireia Polytechnic in Porirua will lead a workshop exploring Pasifika dance.

Learn the authentic hula moves from Mana Maoli hula expert Kumu Hula Mehanaokala Hind and dancers from Hawai’i. Experience the unique culture of Hawai’i and get those hips moving in a fun and energetic workshop at Te Pae Pae.

Stellar line-up

Eastern European hippies, Colombian electro-acoustic trail-blazers, traditional Cambodian musicians, an award-winning Kiwi artist, a Pacific treasure, cultural performance groups from New Zealand and Hawai’i, and a stunning flags project join the WOMAD New Zealand 2011 line-up.

The newly announced artists: 17 Hippies (Germany), Sidestepper (Colombia), Mana Maoli (Hawai’i, United States), Tray So (Cambodia), Tiki Taane and the Dub Soldiers with Te Pou o Mangataawhiri (NZ), Lawrence Arabia (NZ), Will Crummer and The Rarotongans (Cook Islands/NZ), the Patea Maori Club (NZ) and Whitireia Performing Arts Group (NZ) will perform at WOMAD New Zealand 2011 at New Plymouth’s Brooklands Park and TSB Bowl from 18-20 March.

These artists join an outstanding line-up of performers from every corner of the globe delivering musical styles from calypso to afro-celtic, Inuit throat-singing to Mongolian rock, ska-fused rockabilly to electronica and everything in between.

Another new addition to WOMAD New Zealand 2011 is the Village of Wellness where festival goers can go to revive their bodies, minds and souls with massage, spiritual readings and foot spas to ease tired dancing feet. But more on that later.

Disabled services at WOMAD

Festivals can be crazy and hectic fun at the best of times….. thousands of people gliding past each other all craving a glimpse of the bands they came to see. For disabled people this can prove to be an even greater challenge.

Philip Wells is an experienced festival enthusiast who has attended over 30 festivals in his wheelchair and he knows exactly what it takes to have a well thought out and successful service for people living with disabilities. And Philip reckons WOMAD has it all. “You can just tell there has been a lot of fore-thought put into it, the friendly helpful staff and volunteers are great and the services are too”.

Philip says having things like easily accessed reserved car parking makes all the difference. Some of the other services WOMAD provides for disabled people are viewing platforms for wheelchair users at the three main stages and mobility scooters which can be used in two hour blocks.

If you want to check out the services in full you can contact Chris Herlihy at the WOMAD office on +6 759 84 12. And if you need some advice take it from Philip Wells who has been to every WOMAD since 2003: “Be careful of the hills and have a good time”.

Mind your Artist

When French speaking Renate Verbrugge (well known Taranaki artist and stone sculptor) offered to become a translator/artist minder at WOMAD New Zealand for musician Julien Jacob back in 2003, little did she realise the fun and challenges that were ahead of her. “I ended up spending everyday with Julien and his band while they were in the New Zealand, I took them to the beach, up Mt Taranaki, and then out for a few drinks.”

Renate has learnt in the many years she has been an artist minder that the most important role is making sure the artists get to and from their performances and on time, however Renate believes there is a whole lot more to it as she explains: “For me its a lot more, I see myself as one of the many faces of WOMAD New Zealand and an ambassador of our beautiful country”.

All the challenges that Renate has faced as an artist minder and translator seem to be balanced with what she describes as “beautiful moments”. She shares stories of both: “Some artists I have looked after are real superstars in their home country so of course they expected the superstar treatment here as well, but once they got use to the laid back attitude of the locals they relaxed and enjoyed the festival and their time in New Zealand immensely.  I have also dealt with some real bad boy musicians and it was always a real effort to get them to their stage on time. All hell broke loose when the bad boy band had realized that their manager had ticked the no alcohol box for their back stage requests, however the wonderful backstage WOMAD crew sorted it all out very quickly”. The beautiful moments that

Renate also treasures is forming special relationships with some of the artists she minds at WOMAD, some of those relationships last for years. Two of them are JulienJacob from the 2003 WOMAD and another is a friendship formed was with the drummer from Zap Mama from WOMAD 2005, who happens to live very close to her home town in Belgium and with whom she still spends a lot of time with when she is visiting family”.