Christopher BarrettWOMAD, a festival renowned for staging a diverse array of artists from far-flung corners of the world, has announced an initial line-up of UK-based acts that are scheduled to play the event this year.
Among the many artists who are set to play the 40,000-capacity festival at Charlton Park in Wiltshire on 22-25 July are Anoushka Shankar (pictured), Jordan Rakei, Nitin Sawhney, The Comet Is Coming, A Certain Ratio, SEED and Sona Jobarteh.
Festival director Chris Smith told Access that ticket sales have been very strong since they went on sale on 16 March, and that international acts will be announced on 17 May.
Smith said, “While artists around the world are still subject to travel restrictions, we are delighted – following the WOMAD Roadmap – to announce a line-up that fully illuminates the rich cultural diversity of the UK’s artistic community.
“We will announce more UK-based artists in the coming weeks and hopefully be able to add international artists to the line-up after 17 May if international travel allows. Inevitably there will be some changes to the festival this year and we will implement the measures required for the festival to take place safely and for the wider community to feel totally comfortable so that we can all come together to celebrate the world and enjoy all the things that enrich our lives and are essential to the human spirit.”
Three-days tickets for the festival are priced £185.
See AAA’s interview with Chris Smith here.