Moctar in da house

Next year’s Womad brings the Hendrix of the desert” to NZ.

From Sweetwaters and the Big Day Out through Auckland’s Laneway and summer concerts such as Splore, the event’s atmosphere is often as much the attraction as who’s on the bill. That’s especially true of the Womad festival (World of Music, Arts and Dance) in New Plymouth. Some book tickets without knowing much about the line-up. And even when it is revealed, many artists from all corners of the globe will be unfamiliar.

Next year’s Womad in March – returning after two years of Covid postponements and celebrating 20 years in New Plymouth’s Brooklands Park – has familiar local names (Fly My Pretties, Avantdale Bowling Club and American-born R’n’B soul singer Deva Mahal among them) and internationals to be discovered: Cimafunk from Cuba, Elaha Soroor and Kefaya (Afghanistan/UK), Pakistan’s Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali group and many more.

There are, however, some major players among the internationals, notably Youssou N’Dour from Senegal, Zambiaborn hip-hop star Sampa the Great and Niger’s singer/guitarist Mdou Moctar.