WOMAD 2009
Friday 24th to Sunday 26th July 2009Charlton Park, Upper Minety, Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England MAP
£122.34 for three days
Daily capacity: 22,500
Yet again at WOMAD, we're woken by the sound of drumming. This time it's a constant pounding of raindrops drumming heavily on the tent. The wind and rain combination ensures that our readying to leave the tent is a thorough preparation (mainly to ensure that that the kids stay dry and happy).
17 Hippies manage to pull in a good crowd and they too have a lot of spirit and energy but we seek sanctuary from the elements in the neighbouring Siam tent and watch their set unfold from afar. Even from that distance, I can tell that there are not 17 of them but they halt conversations around us by parping into a bloody great big euphonium which wouldn't sound out of place on a fogbound cruise liner. With so many of them on stage it would be understandable if their output was messy confused and jumbled. Not so. Honed, tested and brassy is more the impression I get.
The heavens open just in time to soak everyone with an interest in the children's procession. It's in a sorry state as it reaches the main stage but the rain soaked drummers accompany giant paper puppets of caterpillars, grasshoppers and a variety of insects as proud parents look on.
A makeshift urinal has been put together next to the Siam stage and it really does work to ease the congestion. This coupled with the persistent hard work of Tracy's Hygiene Crew has helped point the sanitation issues in roughly the right direction again. Despite being short on numbers, the loos are kept in a good condition and Tracey and her team win the hearts of parents by shepherding those with little ones to toilets set aside for kids. That aside, there still don't seem to be enough of them throughout the site despite assurances from the organisers that there are more than in previous years.
Packing up on Monday morning, we reflect that this doesn't seem to have been one of the more magical WOMADs. We've met some lovely people and our children have both made some lovely friends but there has been something missing. The flags are still glorious but the rest of the site art seems to have diminished. I haven't spotted any of the walkabout entertainers that usually grace the festival could this be the symptoms of a credit crunch, dampened down spirits or just high expectations from so many years of good form? Who knows, but there's still more than enough there to ensure that we'll be back next year.
review by: James Tayler
photos by: Andy Pitt / Phill Bull
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