43 f
found ourselves raving in a frenzied club- night thanks to the very good Auntie Flo, Glaswegian DJ/producer of Asian descent whose inspired African-accented sounds got the crowds going.
Food-wise, the festival has lost a few great stalls from previous years, but has more than made up with new additions. I went to regular favourites the Thoroughly Wild Meat Co (2015 winner of Best Main Meal at WOMAD) for their delicious salt marsh lamb tagine; Hot Flavours for a gen- erous helping of spicy jerk chicken with all the sides (plantain, dumpling, coleslaw, rice’n’peas and salad); and Shepherds ice cream for their toffee & honeycomb, lemon & poppyseed and mango & coconut cre- ations. Of the new joints, I had to try Le Bao who made us a mouthwatering bun-trio of pork belly, crispy chicken, goat’s cheese and caramelised onion; Crispy Duck Rotisserie who simply served crispy duck in either a wrap or platter with a side of fries cooked in duck fat; and finally Lobster & Crab Shack whose fancy grilled half lobster with all the sides (fries, coleslaw and salad) hit the spot. We definitely ate well and affordably with all meals healthy-appetite-sized and not costing an arm or a leg
M
oving from the main arena to the wonderful world of the arboretum, we found ourselves in a zen and super-green setting.
Although music is a big draw for WOM- ADers, lifestyle and wellbeing are equally big attractions – growing and getting more creative each year. New activities spotted included tree climbing, giant crosswords and train-track relaxation/meditation in amongst the usual spa, instrument lessons and poetry shack. A larger children’s area, the addition of a teen area and an appar- ently popular Physics Pavilion further rein- forced the festival’s family-friendly feel, offering something for everyone.
Having spoken to a few different festival-goers, there was a mixed bag of reactions to the new layout. For most, it felt like whatever you were into (the music, food, shopping or wellbeing), WOMAD now provides an extensive and rich mix of each, all easy to immerse yourself in. For others, particularly families who were carting chil- dren and the whole kit, they couldn’t quite find the old base-spots in the main arena to be able to experience a little bit of every- thing on offer. For me, having the main stages in relatively close walking distance from each other created opportunities to see more performances than ever before, but an element that could have been improved was the sound – there were a few occasions where feedback was pretty bad, artists would ask for vocals to be raised and sound-spill occurred between stages, espe- cially the open air stage which spilled as far as the arboretum. But all of this should be easily fixable for next year, in WOMAD’s usual efficient way.
This year proved that more and more
people are embracing this wonderful World Of Music And Dance, and in return the fes- tival is offering a lot more for all types of festival-goers. For me, it’s reached an opti- mum size and I really hope it doesn’t lose any of its magical WOMADiness in the future. Until next year!
womad.co.uk F
Bambara Wassoulou Groove
Above: ‘wellbeing’. Below: Amaraterra
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