activities for kids & adults at Womad 2018

WOMAD 2018

Thursday 26th to Sunday 29th July 2018
Charlton Park , Malmesbury, Wiltshire, SN16 9DG, England MAP
£225 for 4 days, £185 for 3 days

Daily capacity: 40,000

The three days of music, dance and culture that is WOMAD , held at Charlton Park, near Malmesbury, in Wiltshire from Thursday 26th to Sunday 29th July 2018., has revealed activities for kids and adults as part of the weekend.

The World of Children will be buzzing with fun and games as this year’s theme is Insects – celebrating our many-legged friends and their hugely important role in our ecosystem that transcends all borders. From the micro to the macro, there is everything from the festival’s smallest Marionette Insect Circus to Aerial Bug Fun where kids can have a go at flying, gliding and swinging away on a giant trapeze, with workshops and activities galore in between. Little ones will be encouraged to get creative and design their own insect costume, make some bug bling with wibbly wobbly antennae, luscious ladybird headdresses or make a pom pom spider, or even help create giant structures like dragon flies and dung beetles – all in preparation for the grand procession (last year's pictured above) on the Sunday where mini WOMADers and adults, musicians and dancers come together to showcase their work.

Dance your socks off with Bollywood fitness or Ska Aerobics, strum along with Family Ukulele, enjoy Dance Music Collective UK’s dance stories and legends of spiders and butterflies or be entranced by African Sambistas, who will entertain with tales told through movement, music and props. There’s also circus skills, den building, slacklining, parachute games and loads more to get stuck into, including WOMAD Weenies for the under 5’s, and our Teen Chill Out Space where teenagers can relax on comfy sofas or take part in jam sessions, open mic, henna, hair braiding, face painting and more. The fun for kids continues elsewhere on site with thrilling tree climbing in the Arboretum, supersonic stuff at the Physics Pavilion and taste-bud tingling times at Children’s Cookery Workshops at the Taste the World stage.

There are diverse workshops for everyone across the WOMAD site; the ‘All Singing All Dancing’ and ‘World Rhythms’ stages give the opportunity to delve deeper into the music, the moves, and the motivations of some of the amazing artists performing at the festival. Perform Carnatic beat boxing with Bollywood Brass Band, explore Gnawa trance rhythms with Hamid El Kasri, or learn new skills like Senegalese hip-hop, Cuban street dance and even Australian aboriginal rituals with the didgeridoo.

It’s a positively mouth-watering menu being rustled up at the Taste the World stage this year, with dishes from five continents being knocked up by some of WOMAD’s top artists, with off the cuff performances and personal anecdotes thrown in. The likes of Vegan Malanga Accra fritters with Canadian Haitian Mélissa Laveaux, Finnish Munavoi with Tuuletar, fish, coconut and bananas with Dobert Gnahoré from the Ivory Coast and Joloff rice and fried plantain with Afro Cluster will all be rustled up in a delicious fusion of music and food.

Celebrating the power of the spoken word, WOMAD’S World of Words is positively brimming with vibrant and diverse discussions, poetry slams, interviews and author chats, with some of the literary world’s top stars taking to the stage. Authors Chibundu Onuzo, Roma Tearne and Anbara Salam talk about their latest novels, with top-notch comedy and storytelling from Jess Thom and James Rowland, as well as insightful an interview with and all-female Latin American supergroup LADAMA, whilst Buddhist monk Gelong Thubten gives audiences an insight into mindfulness and meditation – join him on Saturday morning in the Big Red tent at 9:25am.

Over in the Physics Pavilion, it’s a world of adventure as CERN, the Institute of Physics and Lancaster University present a programme packed full of mind-boggling experiments and wondrous workshops for everyone to enjoy. From the Physics of Gin to Science Rap from biology beatboxer Jon Chase to the Physics of Football with Dr Ken Bray to an insight into hacking by mastermind Freaky Clown, it’s a whole galaxy for festival-goers to explore.

This year Brazilian art collective OPAVIVARÁ! create interventions and situations which redefine public and private spaces, and they are presenting Rede Social at WOMAD as part of the World of Art; a multi-part hammock, tangible ‘social network’ that is a space for contemplation, experimentation and coexistence. Based in Rio de Janeiro, the group are bringing their colourful and inviting ethos to the festival, situated in the Arboretum and open for the duration of the festival.

These join the previously announced music which this year comes from Amadou & Mariam, Leftfield performing 'Leftism' live, Mr Jukes, Camille, Django Django, Sharon Shannon, LA DAME BLANCHE, Ken Boothe, Thievery Corporation, Funke & The Two Tane Baby, Gilles Peterson, Omar Souleyman, Jazzanova Live featuring Paul Randolph, Aeham Ahmad, Afro Cluster, Dobet Gnahore, Kojey Radical, Electric Fields, Ezra Collective, and many more. For all of the details so far please see the line-up page.

The festival is aimed at the whole family, and allows all children aged 13 years and under, in for free. WOMAD promises even more stuff for kids and young people than ever before. 'The World of Children' will have the usual comprehensive programme of workshops, entertainment and activities. They are held throughout the weekend culminating in the Children's Parade which starts from the Children's area traditionally at 6pm on the Sunday and winds it's way through the main arena. This year will have an elemental theme, "celebrating the power of Earth, Fire, Water and Air".

buy tickets now >

Tickets are on sale, priced as follows:-
adult 3 days: £185
adult 4 days: £225
teenage 3 days: £90*
teenage 4 days: £125*
(*names of teenagers must be registered when purchasing tickets)
Campervan: £80
Park & Camp: £85
Camp WOMAD x 2-man tent £150
Camp WOMAD x 4-man tent £250
spa weekend: £135
La Di Da Loo: £35
Some tickets can be bought by four instalments (please note there is no refund policy).
Children 13 and under FREE (but still need ticket)

Day tickets are now available for Saturday and Sunday, priced at £95 for adults, £75 for residents, or £55 for teenagers.

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