In Redmond, Washington’s Marymoor Park, not far from Seattle, the WOMAD festival had a home for a few years. Peter Gabriel’s appreciation of music from other cultures served as a major inspiration for the 1982 launch of World of Music Art and Dance (WOMAD) festival. Since then, there have been regular festivals in a number of cities throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia, but WOMAD had never established itself in the states, with the exception of a brief tour of one-day mini-festivals in 1993 and this 4 year tour starting in 1998.
1998 WOMAD USA
1999 WOMAD USA
2000 WOMAD USA
2001 WOMAD USA
WOMAD USA 1998 Day 1
We took a stroll around Marymoor Park when we first arrived to get a sense of how everything was organized. Just inside the main gate, a sizable field was dominated by the Mainstage, and around the field were food and various vendor booths. Shikisha, a trio of Zulu women, sang, danced, and played drums on…
WOMAD USA 2001 Day 1
Friday started out a little overcast but cleared up by lunch (from the Horn of Africa). Youssou N’Dour was at the top of my list for the day. Baka Beyond mixed African drumming, guitar riffs and Celtic melodies with the music of the Baka pygmies while the WOMAD sisters danced in front of the stage….
WOMAD USA 2001 Day 2
Saturday morning started with a latte from a stand close to our tent (camping in Seattle, gotta love it) and a bowl of cereal. The day was overcast with a little light rain but the weather did not get in the way of having a great time. On the Windmill Stage Barbara Luna (not the…
WOMAD USA 2001 Day 3 sound check
Each day I would arrive early and hear a CD being played from the main stage. Friday and Saturday it was The Neville Brothers, today I thought they had put in a Peter Gabriel CD until I got to the main stage. When I reached the main stage I found that Peter Gabriel and his…