World of Music and Dance – Womad Taranaki 2010

The Journey: Cambridge to Taranaki

First stop on the recommendation of our friends is coffee at Boscos. It’s on the right on the way into Te Kuiti from the north. It did not disappoint. As we drove in, I blurted out – “what a sexy building”, and it was. Wood, louvres, decks, colour, high studs – everything I love about a building. Inside the service was snappy, we had barely sat down when our coffee (very good it was too) and eats arrived. Maurice at the till spotted us as Womad goers and wished us well. Too early for lunch, we bought something to have by the river at Mokau.

The area around Cambridge through to Te Kuiti and beyond is an arboretum – mostly huge old exotics, in another few weeks the autumn colour will be amazing.

Through the Awakino Gorge, we emerged to the wild west coast, and the small fishing villages that line it. Beside the river at Mokau we read that this is history country – the Tainui canoe made its first landfall here in the 14th Century. We share our lunch on a picnic table in a brisk south westerly – we eventually met up with our friends – very little cell phone reception here, so don’t rely on it!

Womad begins

A heart stopping karanga that began the welcome drifted to us as we emerged from the tree lined walkway of Pukekura Park. Then there was the obligatory speeches from sponsors. politicians and organisors as people dribbled in. It starts to drizzle but nothing to worry the crowd – ‘Taranaki sunshine’ the mayor calls it.

A full rainbow appears in the sky, it feels like a good omen for me, although the rain is always threatening, the rainbow celebrates diversity, unity and hope – which is what WOMAD seems all about.

Music Highlights

• The extraordinarily plaintiff sound of a double reed wind instrument from Azerbaijan and Gochag Askarov, played while their manager cooked a traditional meal in the Taste the World Tent.
• The deep resonant chanting of the Gyuto Tibetan monks
• Eliades Ochoa and the vibrant music of Cuba and the maraccas solo
• The trilling tongues of the western Sahara
• The 3 electric bass guitars which were the only accompaniment for Mariem Hassan.
• The flutes and fiddles, drums and lutes with their unfamiliar, but beguiling scales and rhythms
• Pacific Curls combination of Celtic fiddle, Maori and Pacific music and passion
• The NZ Bellbirds – yet to release an album – but I will buy it as soon as it is released.
• The dancing energy with the Irish Martin O’connor Trio, the Babylon Circus, Barcelona’s Ojos de Brujo or the Skatalites.
• The laid back instrumentals at the smaller stages.

Womad in Brooklands Park

We sit watching across the pond as the first band comes on – a brassy Chicago boy band who soon gets the crowd pumping and on their feet. The resident ducks simply stay on doing their thing in the pond in front of the stage and the seagulls sit atop the stage, occasionally soaring out over the crowd.

My girlfriend Liz has been to Womad in Adelaide for 20 years, and this is her second here in NZ, she agrees that this setting in Brooklands is more lush and the natural amphitheatre of the Brooklands Bowl is an amazing place to hear the musicians – everyone can see, hear, boogie and enjoy the show.

The only downside is that there are some hills to climb and by the end of the night I am definitely limping home. For the last show I get into the 65+ raised seats by pointing to my walking stick and saying I can not stand up any longer.

Who is here?

Well there is a fair few baby boomers like me, but all in all it seems a general cross section of people. Heaps of kids – they have a kidzone dedicated to them and a parade on Sunday evening. There are babies and toddlers with ear protection, through to face painted and bouncy 8 year olds and heaps of young teeny boppers strutting their thing.

Womad has made an effort to make sure everyone is included, and this year with TSB funding there is even some 65 + bleacher stands for when it gets too much to stand.

The local Taranaki paper described the crowd as having a touch of Woodstock. I disagree, I thought it had more of a touch of a Green Party gathering – lots of energy, not too much ego, no one wasted, peace and goodwill abounded and a sense of the global village.

I end up meeting friends I have not seen for years – four of us who had been to Morocco together with Venus Adventures, a friend and her husband and 10 year old son – when I knew her there was no sign of a child, Kate and Lyn from The Big Blue House accommodation for women in Auckland, Marney and Alison hosts at Whatipu Lodge on the west coast of Auckland

I enjoy people watching, and tended to be at the back of the crowds, watching the pulsating energy of the crowd dance as one to the music playing. Liz was down there in the middle of it, though having danced her feet off on Saturday, had to have a quieter day of it on Sunday.

Other venues were quieter with people lying in the sun listening to the music or quietly chatting with friends. Between events there were rivers of people flowing between the main stages, weaving between the billowing flags. All the colours of the rainbow in the people and the flags.

Food…

What to chose – that is the only question. There is food from around the world and just plain old steak sandwiches and chips if that is your fancy. The main food tents are spread around a huge branching tree with seats and tables set up under it, and people on rugs further out – it is just one big picnic.

Monteiths is on tap everywhere and wine for sale (you can’t bring your own), but even after 12 hours I never saw anyone drunk or under the weather, unlike the FM Winery Tour crowd earlier in the year. Though there were a few gently stoned souls. Womad is very mellow and laid back – a friendly, family, generous and open feeling everywhere you go.

Some Recommendations:

• Go to Womad at least once in your life
• Accommodation: Book early, and remember if you are on a budget you can camp or sleep on a mattress Marae style. We stay with friends in an apartment in the middle of the CBD – no parking, but we manage. Whatever you choose, get in early, there is a lot of people at Womad, and most of them travel here and want somewhere to sleep. (NUMBERSS??)
• Stay an extra day or two to recover and to enjoy New Plymouth. We brought our bikes and did the fabulous 7km waterfront cycleway/walkway, but it took us a day to recover enough to do that. New Plymouth shops definitely put out the welcome mat for Womad visitors
• Enter via the Liardet St Entrance – you can park nearby if you are not too late, and this gives you a 10-15 minute walk through Pukekura Park – the tree lined walkway and the lakes. It is also a beautiful exit with the park lit with lights reflecting in the lakes – a great way to wind down after the buzz of the day.

Will I go again?

Maybe in a few years – I found it physically demanding and needed a walking stick to get around. Liz will definitely be here again.

Would I recommend it?

Definitely, I think this is something that everyone needs to do at least once in your life, and if you have not done it yet – book in for next year.

What to bring

• A low stadium seat – no high backed chairs allowed. (There is a great one on sale at WOMAD if you don’t have one).
• Picnic blanket would be good
• Water bottles – free refills available around the site
• A packpack to ensure a change of clothes – plan for layers – hot sun (hat and sunscreen) and cooler evenings (socks and windproof jackets) and occasional rain. Once you are there, its hard to get home again, so you are there for the duration. If you head home, who knows what you will miss!
• Some snacks if you don’t want to spend up all the time, but there is great onsite food and drink
• Money if you don’t bring enough to eat! Meals are about $10 – lots of choice and good value.
• A walking stick if you need any assistance at all – with my gammy leg, it was a lifesaver. Mind you there are lots of golf carts around and I think I could have got a lift if I wanted.
• Your Womad Tickets

Don’t bring

• Alcohol
• Highback chairs
• Attitude