Womad Festival 2011

Womad Festival 2011

Its not long now until the tents are set up and the sound checks start - Its midsummer, and Womad is here again. This is the festival where Peter Gabrial challenges you to attend without being really excited and inspired by at least one thing.

Womad is commonly accepted as running from Friday morning through to Sunday night, but the campsite is in fact open to those possessing a Thursday ticket from 8am on that day. WOMAD Charlton Park 2011 runs from 28th July through to 31st July 2011.

A variety of other tickets and admission packages have been offered this year, such as the locally sought-after SN16 Resident, but many have sold out. However, SN16 Saturday tickets and SN16 Sunday tickets are still available at £55 each - this being ten pounds cheaper than the Sunday and Saturday tickets available to the general public.

This years line-up is as diverse as ever, and includes acts from all corners of the globe - Jamaica, Ethiopia, New Zealand, Egypt, Norway, Japan, and everywhere else in between. Some of the most anticipated acts include Mexican acoustic guitar legend Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Tennessee soul singer and song writer Booker T Jones, pioneers of modern Ethiopian reggae, Dub Colossus, American Sub-Dub cover group The Easy Star All Stars, and the much more local Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

People attending the festival on Thursday can also have the delight of watching almost 100 local primary school pupils and 30 secondary school pupils open the festival with a drumming performance with the Dhol Foundation.

Aside from the musical performances, there will be many other things to enjoy - most of which will encourage participation. Highlights include Taste the world, a world cookery class, The Human Library - where you can borrow a human book or be the book yourself, The Roots Architecture Workshops, and a variety of Art workshops to take part in and installations to experience. Holders of a Spa ticket can also be pampered in the sumptuously decorated spa tents or go for a drink at the backstage bar.

The weather forecast is still not officially determined, but online sources mostly infer a fair outcome, with the highest temperature pinned at 19 degrees Centigrade, and a 20% chance of precipitation.

For those less inclined to walk, local bus service runs to Charlton Park from the town centre at the following times. The cost for the journey is £1 each way.

9:20, 9:50, 10:20, 10:50, 11:20, 11:50, 12:20, 12:50, 13:20, 13:50, 14:20, 14:50, 15:20, 15:50, 16:20, 16:50, 17:20, 17:50, 18:20, 18:50, 19:20, 19:50, 20:20

For more information, and up-to-the-minute updates, please visit the official Womad site.

Alternatively, click here for the concise Malmesbury.com womad timetable.