Womad’s great strength is its eclecticism: there are bands from right across the globe, offering glimpses into lesser-known musical traditions from more than 50 countries, or slamming them together in unexpected combinations. Continue reading “Review: WOMAD festival, Charlton Park”
Tag: festivals
The rise of the five star festival
Yachts for hire, on-site spas and champagne by the bucketload… this summer, festivals have gone luxe. Continue reading “The rise of the five star festival”
Talking pub politics with Charlotte Church
No-one would have predicted that the biggest hit at po-faced super-muso festival All Tomorrow’s Parties earlier this year would have been former “voice of an angel” Charlotte Church doing pop covers in a spangly leotard. But this is her latest project – her Late Night Pop Dungeon – and the Welsh singer absolutely smashed it: the crowd went wild for her band covering everything from En Vogue to Joy Division to Nine Inch Nails. Continue reading “Talking pub politics with Charlotte Church”
Review: Latitude Festival
To Latitude Festival, where theatre can be found everywhere, from full-scale auditorium to crowded fields, from wooded glades to wooden sheds. Encounters range from the touchingly intimate to the sweatily communal, as befits a festival. Continue reading “Review: Latitude Festival”
On the rise and rise of the city day festival
You might be forgiven for thinking the UK had hit peak festival: every weekend from May to September offers a chance to lose yourself in a field. All summer long, train carriages are stuffed with damp tents, and newspapers stuffed pictures of girls in wellies. Continue reading “On the rise and rise of the city day festival”
My life in festivals: Super Noodles, Super Furry Animals and supervisory parents
The childhood years
Age 8 to 13 / 1994 to 1999
My childhood festival-going all took place at Womad. My parents may have gone to Isle of Wight in 1969 without so much as a tent to sleep under – but they didn’t want to go feral with me and my brother. When a friend told them that Womad was safe and lovely and had craft workshops for kids, they were sold. We decamped in style, taking a giant frame tent, a batik awning and half a sofa. Continue reading “My life in festivals: Super Noodles, Super Furry Animals and supervisory parents”