WOMADelaide 2020

Just sneaking in before mass event restrictions and social lockdowns brought on by the COVID-19 global pandemic, WOMADelaide 2020 was a euphoric four days of perfect festival weather, with crowds surpassing the 2018 record of 96,000 attendances.

The Cat Empire’s 6^th show at the festival was, as usual, rapturously received. Mali’s Salif Keita delivered a stunning and fitting farewell to his 50 years of touring the globe on the Saturday night, and on the Sunday night, Samba-rock king Jorge Ben Jor brought a delightfully high-energy set of classic tracks.  On the closing Monday evening, the inspirational Mavis Staples was a highlight and Australian singer-songwriter Matt Corby closed the Foundation Stage as an (extremely last minute) replacement for Ziggy Marley.

Powerful moments were shared with Australia’s Spinifex Gum, the stunning contemporary dance piece, Floating Flowers by Taiwan’s B.DANCE and the 4-metre tall puppets of Company Archibald Caramantran danced with young and old across the park.

“WOMADelaide 2020: uplifting, political and expansive festival offers hope amid the doom” - The Guardian 

“WOMADelaide helps us understand our complex, beautiful, challenging world” - Dan Condon, Double J