First Artists Announced For WOMAD NZ 2022

The summer music festival madness is creeping in as the days grow a little brighter and the lockdown levels drop, and this morning we receive welcome news of the first few acts on the bill for WOMAD NZ 2022. Sadly unable to party in 2021, WOMAD returns to Pukekura Park in March next year for three mammoth days of music, arts and culture. Fresh from the release of their seriously groove-laden new album WAIRUNGA, dub legends Fat Freddy's Drop will be putting on one of their joyous live performances, no doubt setting the bar high and the mood mellow for WOMAD attendees next year. Also making the trip from Te Whanganui-a-Tara, the gorgeous and glorious Deva Mahal joins the line-up with her jaw-dropping soul and RnB chops. Personal lineup highlight is 2019 Taite Music Prize winner Tom Scott's hip hop / jazz project Avantdale Bowling Club, a must-see at the summer festival, while the incomparable Shades Of Shakti will be taking the stage to share their spectacular '70s traditional Indian meets jazz fusion.

As is tradition, there'll be a multitude of stages and zones to explore on top of all the ace musical offerings. Now household name Dr Siouxsie Wiles is leading the line up for STEAM Lab, kiwi painting icon Dick Frizzell will talk about his work Me According to The History of Art as part of the World of Words programme, and 2022 will see the return of Taste The World, Kidzone and Te Pae Pae, with lineups to be announced. Of course there are a tonne more acts still to be revealed, but I reckon that's plenty to fizz about while we wait for the next big drop...

WOMAD International's Head of Programming, Paula Henderson enthused: "For WOMAD, we are usually very spoilt, we have the whole world at our fingertips in terms of programming. When we first thought about doing WOMAD with a mainly national event over a year ago initially, I thought no way… but, I was wrong. It will sound a little strange, but, although challenging (as there were no gigs to go to), spending hours scouring the internet to find new artists that would suit the festival has been really exciting and I am confident that we have a programme that our audience will be overjoyed with."

WOMAD NZ 2022

Friday 18th March to Sunday 20th March - New Plymouth, TSB Bowl of Brooklands, Pukekura Park
Featuring... Shades of Shakti, Fat Freddy's Drop, Deva Mahal, Avantdale Bowling Club, Dick Frizzell, Dr Siouxsie Wiles + more to be announced

Early bird tickets are on sale now at womad.co.nz

If Deva Mahal can take your breath away in the video for 'Stand In' just imagine what she can do live...

Here's a snippet of Fat Freddy's Drop's live from a bush version of 'Shady'...

Press release:

WOMAD returns delivering world-class performers from Aotearoa, for the award-winning three day festival.

For its 17th presentation in New Zealand, WOMAD NZ is back in full force with all of its eight stages that will feature close to 100 hours of music, with the diverse and rich range of talent that WOMAD go-ers have come to expect. Over three days of March 18-20, Ngāmotu's stunning Brooklands Park and the TSB Bowl of Brooklands will once again be transformed into a village of colour, energy and inclusion.

A unique opportunity has presented itself with the constraints caused by the global pandemic as WOMAD programmers have dug into the wealth of Aotearoa's musical talent to present a unique array of artists that will deliver the sense of discovery the festival is so well known and loved for. This first announcement includes a collaboration of New Zealand and Indian musicians, Shades of Shakti combining traditional Indian music and jazz. Festival favourites, Fat Freddy's Drop return for the first time in 12 years along with WOMAD first-timers; modern R&B extraordinaire, Deva Mahal and jazz-hip-hop mastermind Avantdale Bowling Club.

WOMAD International's Head of Programming, Paula Henderson says, "For WOMAD, we are usually very spoilt, we have the whole world at our fingertips in terms of programming. When we first thought about doing WOMAD with a mainly national event over a year ago initially, I thought no way… but, I was wrong. It will sound a little strange, but, although challenging (as there were no gigs to go to), spending hours scouring the internet to find new artists that would suit the festival has been really exciting and I am confident that we have a programme that our audience will be overjoyed with."

Fat Freddy’s Drop are excited for their return to the festival commenting, “Taranaki, we’re stoked to be coming back to perform our new and classic tunes under the watchful eye of the mighty maunga. It's been 12 years since we performed there, and even though we've played WOMAD around the world nothing beats Taranaki. Chur Aotearoa”

In addition to the musical line up, the increasingly popular offerings of the World Of Words stage and STEAM Lab return. Iconic kiwi artist, product designer and author, Dick Frizzell makes his performance debut at WOMAD. As does now household name, microbiologist and science communicator, Dr Siouxsie Wiles who leads the line up for STEAM Lab. Taste The World, Kidzone, and Te Pae Pae will also return with programming to be announced. The full artist announcement is scheduled for October 20, 2021.

WOMAD NZ’s Associate Programmer, Josie Hunter Annand adds “As a festival attendee next March, you can definitely expect that, despite the current global restrictions we’re all facing right now, WOMAD will take you on a journey outside of these confines, with a much-needed chance to reconnect to the people, places, tastes and sounds of our world, right here in Aotearoa!”