Johnny Kalsi and Hoghead, WOMAD Reading 2006

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 180, August/September 2022 as my contribution to the article 'Four Decades of WOMAD'

After years of extolling the festival’s virtues, we’d brought our mate Hoghead down for his first WOMAD at Reading in 2006. Hog is a rocker with a great love for anything guitar-based, but this was a completely different musical world for him.

That year, WOMAD staples and masters of bhangra-fusion The Dhol Foundation were a last-minute replacement for a band that couldn’t make it. While I was down the front, Hog hung back, never one for dancing. But I’d occasionally look back over to see him, mouth agape, gently shaking his head – the energy from the five huge Punjabi drums on stage clearly working their magic. After the set, the stage’s MC, the gentleman Neil Sparkes, let us slip backstage and we ended up getting a fantastic photo with TDF frontman Johnny Kalsi – with Hoghead grinning like a wally in his Motörhead t-shirt. We were all in a daze afterwards, our conversation mostly consisting of “wow!” and “corr!”. It was a magical gig.

What an honour it is to watch a mind get blown, experiencing intoxicating music that was otherwise completely new to them – and it’s something that happens all the time at WOMAD.


Photo: (l-r) the writer, the writer's dad Paul, Johnny Kalsi, Hoghead, backstage at the Village Stage, WOMAD Reading 2006.

Spotlight: Africa Oyé 2022

First published at Songlines.co.uk.



Many festivals have cultivated their own community, one that exists for three or four days of reunion within a tented city before dispersing until the same time next year. It’s special, but ephemeral. Africa Oyé isn’t quite like that – it’s a treasured part of the wider, year-round community of the city of Liverpool.

Africa Oyé is a festival that provides a weekend of wonderful African and Afro-diasporic music for the people of Liverpool every June, completely free. Now in its 30th year, and returning for the first time since 2019, the 2022 edition is set to be particularly special – surrounded by a whole year of celebratory concerts and events across Merseyside.

The festival started in 1992 as a series of gigs in Liverpool’s city centre, and eventually became part of a hot-air balloon festival across the Mersey in Birkenhead. From his first Oyé in 1998, artistic director Paul Duhaney saw the potential for something more. “I quickly realised that most people were into the music than they were into the balloons. Why don’t we just do this in Liverpool, where the black community, and all communities, can access the festival and make it grow a bit more? So we did.” After a few more years, the festival settled into its permanent home in the luscious Sefton Park, where it has continued to grow.

Oyé’s line-ups are never less than stellar, and they’re selected with such precision that after 30 years of curation, there’s some music that just has an indelible Oyé vibe – music that sounds like fresh grass, sun and barbecues. Duhaney’s job must be a difficult one, but he lays it out in simple terms: “I think the decision is based on ‘is this band going to make people dance and enjoy themselves and be happy?’ If they fit that criteria and they have good quality as well, then that’s the final call.” This year will see African legends such as Oumou Sangaré and Kanda Bongo Man as well as a rare fully-live set from British-Ghanaian Afrobeats star Fuse ODG and a host of tasty new discoveries from across the continent and further afield. Eek-a-Mouse takes the festival’s traditional Saturday night reggae headliner slot, which always closes the festival's first night with a bang.

But while the music is the big draw, what makes Oyé special is the community vibe – and for Duhaney, they feed into each other. “The music on-stage plays a big part in the ambience you get in the audience, because it’s all about happiness, positivity, joy, peace, love, inclusivity. Everybody that goes to that festival feels like they should be there, and that’s an important factor.” In Sefton Park, it truly is an all-encompassing crowd – huge family gatherings, local teenagers, veteran world music fans, people just looking for a fun, no-stress weekend. There are no fences around the festival site, so anyone in the park at the (usually sunny) weekend can hear the sounds and wander in to join the party, partake in some delicious Caribbean food, and become one of the family.

It’s that welcoming, community-driven nature at the core of the Oyé experience that has earned its place in Scouse hearts (and a spot on the official Liverpool-themed Monopoly board). In a city known for its warmth, camaraderie and humour, Africa Oyé really shows the best of Liverpool alongside the best African music and culture.

Photo: Africa Oyé 2019, by Mark McNulty.

Spotlight: WOMAD Charlton Park 2021

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 169, July 2021.



Festivals have always been oases of the weird and the extraordinary among a desert of the mundane. But after a year-and-a-half of nothing but weirdness, the pioneering World of Music, Arts and Dance makes its triumphant return to Wiltshire in July, aiming to bring back a little bit of that normality – while remaining as extraordinary as ever.

It’s an understatement to say that festivals have been hit hard over the last 18 months, and WOMAD have had it even worse than most: they’ve seen eight of their festivals across the world cancelled. “The world needs festivals and people need festivals,” says WOMAD’s director Chris Smith. “To have the possibility of actually putting one on is just incredibly exciting because I think we’ve never been more necessary.” Many festivals have resigned to taking 2021 as another fallow year but WOMAD have said from the very start that they will be going ahead. With a whole pandemic’s worth of best laid plans having gone awry, why so certain? “We always believed it would be possible, we’ve been relentlessly positive about that,” Smith says. “I think positivity is more and more an asset that we’re all going to need going forward. And it’s exhausting, I have to say! But I think it’s working, because we’re nearly there.”

While WOMAD is striving to keep things as close to business-as-usual as possible, there have been some unavoidable changes this year. The biggest and most visible is in its line-up. With travel restrictions uncertain and overseas artists possibly facing lengthy quarantines when visiting, the usual globetrotting will be a bit different: “the special thing is that most – or all – of the artists will be UK-based,” explains Smith. “It’s a real celebration of the diversity of the arts and culture in this country that we’ve produced a top line-up of UK-based artists that meets the creative criteria of WOMAD.” It’s certainly impressive – it’s a typically world-spanning feast with huge names such as Anoushka Shankar and Nitin Sawhney alongside plenty of festival favourites and many exciting new discoveries to be made. And while he stays tight-lipped about specifics, Smith hints that there are artists ready to fly in should their respective countries get the green light to travel in time.

Regarding the on-the-ground experience, WOMAD are hoping that everything will look pretty familiar. There will be more room to manoeuvre, more hand-washing points and the like, but a two-metre social distance won’t be mandatory (or particularly feasible in a field of tents). It’s understandable that some will be more nervous than others about rejoining the crowds, so there will also be a new addition to the arena called The Space, a more open area that will host silent discos and other such distanced activities, leaving room to breathe “for those that haven’t quite adjusted yet to full mosh-pit activity.”

So now it’s summer 2021. You’ve made the banana bread, you’ve done the Zoom pub quizzes and you’ve watched Tiger King way too many times. Now it’s time for something different. Enjoy the normality of a typically world-class, globally-musical, relentlessly positive and real, actual, in-the-flesh WOMAD festival – see you there!

Update: WOMAD 2021 ended up getting cancelled about a week after the publication of this article. Let’s try again in 2022!

Photo: Chris Smith at WOMAD, by Elliot Caunce.

Essential 10: WOMAD 2021

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 169, July 2021.

Horace Andy
Dance Hall Style (Wackie’s, 1982)
Every festival needs a bona fide veteran on its line-up, and prolific Jamaican singer Horace Andy definitely fits that bill. He’s probably best known now for his guest spots with Massive Attack, but it’s in the dub-heavy roots reggae and proto-dancehall of Dance Hall Style – Andy’s eighth album – that his distinctive high-pitched voice shines brightest.

The Dhol Foundation
Drum-Believable (Shakti Records, 2005)
Over the years, some artists have become WOMAD mainstays, and Johnny Kalsi and his group The Dhol Foundation can certainly count themselves among that class. Blasting their giant Punjabi dhol drums through bhangra, rock and electronica, they’re a guaranteed party starter – never more so than with their certified banger ‘After the Rain’ with Irish fiddler Máiréad Nesbitt from their second album Drum-Believable.

Li Xiangting & Cheng Yu
The Sound of Silk (ARC Music, 2019)
Pipa (four-stringed lute) and guqin (seven-stringed fretless zither) player Cheng Yu is one of the UK’s foremost Chinese musicians – her album of duets with her mentor Li Xiangting got a five-star review in Songlines. Her quartet Silk Breeze recorded a session of beautiful sizhu music for the WOMAD@Home series last summer, playing among the idyllic surrounds of Real World Studios; they’ll surely bring the same serene atmosphere to Charlton Park in July.

Lokkhi Terra meets Dele Sosimi
Cubafrobeat (Funkiwala Records, 2018)
Two for the price of one here: Lokkhi Terra, the London-based South Asian-flavoured Cuban big band, and Dele Sosimi, Afrobeat keys player and member of the legendary Egypt 80, are both on the line-up for WOMAD this year. Their collaborative album linked Yoruba cultures from both sides of the Atlantic to huge success. Fingers crossed for an on-stage reunion?

Mariza
Concerto em Lisboa (EMI Portugal, 2006)
Portuguese fado, with all its melodramatic flair and delicate, emotional moments, is always most powerful when experienced live, and the modern era’s biggest star is no exception. This live album shows Mariza at her best as a performer, accompanied by the Sinfonietta de Lisboa in front of 25,000 people in fado’s hometown. Granted, she’s not bringing the Sinfonietta to WOMAD, but her voice is an orchestra all on its own.

Onipa
We No Be Machine (IK7 Music, 2020)
Headed by Ghanaian-British singer and rapper K.O.G. and Nubiyan Twist guitarist and producer Tom Excell, Onipa use their hip-hop and jazz pedigree to combine vintage highlife grooves, dirty synths and layers of percussion. This is ‘savannah bass’, Onipa’s own exciting Afrofuturist style, and you couldn’t really wish for a more appropriate festival soundtrack – sound of the summer!

Gwenifer Raymond
Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain (Tomkins Square, 2020)
WOMAD has always had a knack for bringing new or lesser-known musicians to the fore, and Gwenifer Raymond may just be your discovery of 2021. Her second album showcases her mastery of the acoustic guitar with a mix of American blues and country roots, folk baroque and subtle influences from India and Wales. Engaging, entrancing and entirely solo – one to watch!

SEED Ensemble
Driftglass (jazz re:freshed, 2019)
Jazz has become a consistent element of the WOMAD line-up in recent editions, and it’s especially prevalent this year. Artists such as Nubiyan Twist, Cinematic Orchestra, The Comet is Coming, Joe Armon-Jones, Sarathy Korwar and Kefaya provide a heterogeneous overview of London’s booming jazz scene and Seed (as they are now known) are sure to be a highlight: their Caribbean and West African-informed 2019 debut earned them a Mercury nomination.

Anoushka Shankar
Reflections (Deutsche Grammophon, 2019)
Shankar’s career has taken so many different directions that you never know quite what she’s going to bring to the stage – the sitarist’s music has encompassed deeply traditional Hindustani classical music as well as Western classical styles, flamenco, jazz, electronica and, most recently, sophisticated and intimate art-pop. This recent self-curated retrospective gives some idea of what to expect from her headline slot this year.

Joseph Tawadros
Betrayal of a Secret Sunflower (JT Records, 2019)
The Egypt-born, Australia-raised and UK-based oud player and composer has graced the stage at WOMADelaide three times and – after a year’s delay – finally makes his UK WOMAD debut. His personality and dress sense are famously extravagant and exquisite, but his most recent album shows that he has no issue making his music serious, subtle, and sublime.

Festival Pass: The Spirit of Tengri

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 155, March 2020.



The city of Almaty is one of the biggest and most populated in Central Asia. Although it was replaced as the capital of Kazakhstan by Astana (now Nur-Sultan) in 1998, it’s still considered to be the centre of culture in the country. And one of Almaty’s most important cultural events is a world music festival – the Spirit of Tengri. Not bad for an event that started just seven years ago.

When the Spirit of Tengri festival first began in 2013, its goal was to explore the uniqueness of the many Central Asian musical traditions by getting to the to the heart of what makes them special – they all evolved as a response to a nomadic way of life. The Kazakh people, and many other ethnic groups in the region, were originally Turkic nomads who developed their own sounds and styles through meetings and meldings with those whose traditions are different. The Spirit of Tengri was first conceived as a gathering of the nomadic people from across Eurasia, from the Magyars of Hungary to the Tuvans of Siberia and the Mongols further east. The festival continues these cultures’ age-old tradition of a mutual meeting of song and dance.

Since that first edition, the festival has become much more than the organisers ever hoped. General producer Zhan Kasteev recalls the moment he knew the Spirit of Tengri had the opportunity to take the next step onto the world stage: “It was a surprise when we visited WOMEX two years after the first festival, and people already knew of us. They knew us as one of the biggest nomadic festivals… because there’s not many like this in the world! Usually nomadic cultures are represented by Mongolian people and culture and songs, but the Turkic culture is diverse, it has many different subcultures – not just nomadic ones, either. On the third or fourth year we started inviting artists from every continent, but the main focus remains on nomadic bands.”

The festival itself takes place on Abai Square, where one huge stage is erected alongside similarly colossal screens, sound system and lighting rig, which turn each evening into super-glossy affair that rivals Eurovision but with better music – and free entry, too. The buzz of the crowd tells you how highly anticipated the Spirit of Tengri is, and each artist is guaranteed a rapturous reception regardless of who they are or where they’re from. This atmosphere creates a heady feedback loop. Kasteev thinks this is a vital part of the festival’s draw: “The audience have been waiting for a whole year for the festival. It’s a family festival, there’s different ages from little kids to old guys. It doesn’t matter about their other problems, they just come here to get this energy. We have 25,000 attendees and it’s getting bigger every year.”

The event’s name refers to the ancient religion of Tengrism, a shamanic belief that once united the Turkic, Mongol and Magyar nomads across Eurasia until the 13th century, and is still practiced today. But the festival isn’t content with looking to the past. The Spirit of Tengri’s artists rarely play full-on traditional music. The tagline is ‘a festival of contemporary ethnic music,’ and every artist performs some kind of hybrid style. No matter which culture they’re representing, they keep the traditional music at the centre while rearranging it around other contemporary styles, from rock to jazz to Latin to the cheesiest Euro-pop. Combined with the artists’ global influences, it’s a range that means there is always something for everyone.

Even aside from the musical styles, the programme of Spirit of Tengri is rather intriguing as its organisers take an unusual approach. While most music festivals base their line-ups on presenting something new to their audience, with perhaps one or two fan favourites, the Spirit of Tengri does almost the exact opposite: the line-up is very similar each year. Many of the groups that take the stage know the festival well, and come back as often as they can, sometimes every year. New artists are invited to the fold along the way, but for the festival’s organisers (and audience), this consistency is one of its strongest points. “The main thing about the festival is that friendship with the artists is valued first; business is second,” says Kasteev. “We try to invite our friends as much as we can. The bands that come each year are our really good friends.”

It’s a philosophy that extends beyond the stage. Whereas the audience experiences the festival as two days of open-air fun, for the artists, the festival is three days. The day after the public event, all the performers bundle onto a bus and journey into the Zailyisky Alatau mountains that surround Almaty. A large restaurant becomes the venue for a day of mingling and jamming, an epic intercultural free-for-all in which musical ideas are flung together and flourish into something completely different. Horse-meat beshbarmak is in plentiful supply, as is the wine. This is a time that might see Egyptian arghoul double clarinet and Tuareg guitar meeting under Tuvan khöömei throat singing, or a percussion-off between Azeri naghara, Uzbek doira, congas and drum kit (with some Mozambican bass in there for good measure). This isn’t just an exercise in throwing a good party, though – its effects are in evidence in future editions of the festival. The collaborations created at these gatherings are solidified over the coming years, where returning artists beckon their new friends onto the Tengri stage to show off their border-breaking musical explorations together, forming the basis of long-lasting musical and personal relationships.

This essential essence of collaboration brings the festival full-circle. The roots of the music at the Spirit of Tengri are in the nomadic way of life, where art and traditions were shared between peoples along the road. The festival is just like one of those ancient crossroads, where musicians and audiences from different cultures get to meet and share and create anew, building on traditions from every corner of the world in some of the most unexpected – and delightful – ways.

Spotlight: WOMEX

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 152, November 2019.



Maybe you’ve never heard of WOMEX. Or maybe you’ve seen it referenced opaquely in the pages of Songlines and elsewhere but always wondered what it was. Whatever the case, your listening habits, the artists you see live and even the music you get to hear about have almost certainly been affected by WOMEX’s existence. So… what is it?

WOMEX stands for the World Music Expo. It’s a meeting of delegates from the every corner of the world music sphere (and from all over the world), who get together to discuss the state of the industry, create and develop new concepts and ideas for the future and map out the next steps to be taken to ensure the continuation of this healthy and exciting musical scene – and to listen to music, of course. It’s held in a different European city every year, and this October, for their 25th anniversary, WOMEX is heading to Tampere in Finland.

The WOMEX programme is made up of many components, from conferences, mentor sessions, film screenings, network meetings, an awards ceremony and a huge trade fair. But the most visible aspect of the event comes in the evenings, when dozens of up-and-coming artists of every region and style perform at the showcase festival. Playing a showcase at WOMEX can be a career-maker: when your audience consists of hundreds of the world’s most important festival organisers, concert promoters, record labels and international media, a stand-out performance can lead to big things indeed. In recent years, WOMEX showcases have kickstarted the international careers of Jambinai, San Salvador, Blick Bassy and Maarja Nuut among many others. But a WOMEX showcase isn’t like any other show.

“The strangest things happen in showcases, one being that professionals get up and leave halfway through, or they come in for ten minutes and then walk out again. Artists are quite ruffled by that,” says WOMEX founding director Ben Mandelson. “At a regular concert, people come in and stay, so the set is built in a way to reach a climax at the end. Showcases are not like that. If somebody walks out, it doesn’t mean you’re bad; the fact that they stayed for ten minutes means that they made the effort to see you and they’ve seen what they need. You have to share them with everyone else. It’s hard for artists. But it’s much more than a gig.”

With so many potential careers at stake, the WOMEX programme is not curated like a normal festival. Instead, the performances are chosen by the ‘Seven Samurai,’ an ever-changing independent jury of WOMEX delegates who craft the line-up from the hundreds of artist proposals received every year. This process allows for a balanced approach that creates a line-up best suited for revealing new stars. It also means that the programme, by design, moves with the times. “We try and make sure that different styles and regions of the world are given access. For every club banger, we would be very interested in having intimate, small, deeply traditional performances. And everything is negotiable within that. I think it succeeds because every delegate has a different concept of what the right balance is. I would be horrified if everyone had the same idea of what the programme should be. What changes is not the balance itself, but the things on offer for which you have to make the balance.”

For an event with a tiny attendance compared to even the smallest of festivals, WOMEX and its showcase festival create ripples that are felt through the world music scene and beyond for years to come – we’re still talking about artists who appeared at the inaugural event back in 1994 (Baaba Maal and Cesaria Evora, anyone?). The world music scene will be very different in another 25 years’ time – maybe we’ll even get rid of that pesky label by then – but there is no doubt that what happens at WOMEX in the past, present and future will have a huge impact on the shape of things to come.


Photo: Santrofi live at WOMEX 19, by Eric van Nieuwland.

Boomtown 2019 - Matterley Estate, nr Winchester

A shorter version of this review was first published in Songlines Magazine issue 152, November 2019.



Boomtown
Matterley Estate, near Winchester
7th-11th August 2019

Boomtown is madness and mania. It’s unlike any other festival I’ve ever been to.

While Boomtown is smaller than Glastonbury in terms of attendance and footprint, the sheer range of delights for the ears and eyes gives Pilton’s finest a close run. With 14 separate ‘districts,’ each with at least one main stage and many smaller and hidden stages totalling more than 100 venues overall, you’re never likely to end up with a gap in your schedule.

The bulk of the musical programming revolves around drum’n’bass, EDM, techno and other electronic music, but there’s plenty of other sounds for those that want it: on my wanderings I came across top-level death metal, grime, punk, hip-hop, soul and jazz of all colours, as well as the largest reggae stage in Europe, set within a huge, naturally-occurring amphitheatre provided by the picturesque South Downs. And of course, there’s more than enough to set a Songlines reader up for the weekend too.

Much like the rest of the line-up, Boomtown’s world music offerings were many and varied, from the mosh-fest of premier Gypsy punks Gogol Bordello who provided an electrifying retrospective headliner set, to San Salvador, the voice, drums and nothing else Occitan sextet who came fresh from two storming sets at WOMAD to a just-as-impressive show at Boomtown. Scottish folk was particularly well-represented all throughout the festival this year, and Talisk and Elephant Sessions gave a wonderful double-bill in a flame-heated medieval town square with back-to-back sets of pumping, clubland-inflected instrumental folk that got the crowd rowdier than any of the electronic stages.

On the Sunday afternoon, it was Grace Petrie’s turn to blow the crowd away. With her mix of English folk and singer-songwriter roots with a punk attitude, her ultra-political songs in defence of butch lesbians, transfolk, the welfare state and the young and angry (and against the Tories and all their works) gave visions of a millennial’s Billy Bragg. With a stand-up’s wit and defiant but cautiously optimistic lyrics, her set prompted tears, fury and joy from this reviewer. Other highlight sets included Asian overground pioneers Asian Dub Foundation, dub-soaked jazzwoman Nubya Garcia and Soweto’s hottest BCUC – I also spent a particularly glorious 3am submerged in the festival’s psytrance forest curated by Bristol’s Tribe of Frog.

You can have an amazing five days of festival entirely absorbed in the brilliant and varied musical line-up that Boomtown has to offer. But if you do, you’ll barely be experiencing half of it. Because Boomtown isn’t just a festival, it’s an entire immersive universe.

The Boomtown storyline has been developing for 11 ‘chapters’ (years) now, with an evolving plot of political wrangling, internal tensions and, this year, the presence of an unsettlingly benevolent AI overlord. This story is not just a vague, hinted-at theme though, but a full-blown, interactive theatre piece spanning every district and the whole weekend.

Every district is fully built-up from amazingly detailed sets – there’s a Wild West town, a medieval/pirate area, an opulent rich-kids’ playground, a huge and gritty downtown with all manner of dystopian inner-city architectures and more. They’re not just soulless façades either; they’re packed with interesting nooks and crannies and intriguingly unmarked doors that can lead you to a raucous Irish pub, or maybe a sophisticated burlesque show or an extremely loud techno club made from an old caravan with a shoulder-to-shoulder capacity of ten. The whole thing is a masterclass of maze-making. Each area is populated by scores of actors acting out in-depth plots relevant to their district – I was particularly engrossed in the saga of the American Old West-style Copper County, which saw town drunk Willie elected by festival-goers to the rank of mayor, only to go mad with power and set up roving vigilante gangs to rough up his political opponents and former allies.

There are so many layers to it. Not only are there the surface stories happening around you, but if you talk to the right characters and ask the right questions, you will get directions and codewords and other interesting folks to meet, uncovering a vast, under-the-surface conspiracy that brings together every aspect of the festival’s lore in one. It’s dizzying in its scale. Just as you can spend the entire festival without touching the more fanciful elements at all, you could easily leave having seen no music but still had an intensely profound five-day experience.

I’ve been to many festivals in my life and seen so much amazing music at them, but my first visit to Boomtown this year will stay with me for a long time. The music was brilliant, undoubtedly, but when it’s experienced in conjunction with an entire reality-bending story, it becomes much more than a music festival, but a wonderful, self-contained world. It’s madness, but I can’t wait to go back.


Photo: Boomtown's epic reggae stage, The Lions Den, by Scott Salt.

The Spirit of Tengri 2019 - Abai Square, Almaty, Kazakhstan

First published on songlines.co.uk and in Songlines Magazine issue 150, August/September 2019.



The Spirit of Tengri
Abai Square, Almaty, Kazakhstan
25th-26th May 2019

Even in Almaty – Kazakhstan’s cultural capital – the Spirit of Tengri festival is considered a highlight of the city’s cultural calendar. Now in its seventh edition (and with ever-attractive free entry), this year’s event drew in over 10,000 attendees of all ages, the already large crowd bolstered by boisterous (but good-natured) teenagers – the festival coincided with the last day of school celebrations. Over two days, 17 artists from 17 different countries took to the stage on Abai Square, overlooked on one side by the city’s famous Kok Tobe mountain and on the other by a giant statue of the renowned poet Abai Qunanbaiuly. The festival makers surely know how to put on a show: the audience were treated to very high production values that felt almost Eurovision-esque, from fancy lighting and giant screens all the way down to the cheesy short videos introducing each artists’ native culture… and on top of all that, it was very, very loud.

The festival’s ultra-broad remit is to present ‘contemporary ethnic music,’ and in practice that mostly seems to mean artists that play their national folk music with some sort of twist from other genres. It’s a concept that allows for a huge scope of artists and the mixtures range from the successful (Ezza’s Nigerien Tuareg rock, Svjata Vatra’s Ukrainian ska and Raghu Dixit’s Kannada folk-pop) to the cringeworthy (GeoTRAIN’s Georgian polyphony-jazz, Abbos’ Uzbek classical Europop). The Kazakh music scene was also represented by bands at the start of each evening – Ashina and Ethno5 – who blended traditional instruments such as the kobyz (fiddle) and dombra (lute) with synthesizers, rappers and heavy rock. Local DJs also provided entertainment in between the live acts, of whom Alena Lobastova – the only named woman on the bill – was the standout, and could certainly thrill festival crowds in the UK.

And the great thing is, the crowd loved every band. Whoever took to the stage, from whatever country, playing whatever instruments and mixing up whatever cultures (and no matter how successfully), the audience went absolutely ballistic. There were sections of the crowd that were never not dancing, and every piece was concluded to rapturous applause.

The musical highlight of the weekend came at the end of the festival’s first night, which was closed by Hungarian group Kerekes Band. The group play a furiously jazzy, punky funk based on the music of the Csángó people of Hungary and Romania, led by the charismatic Zsombor Fehér on the electronically-enhanced shepherd’s flute. In a banging set full of special moments such as a too-funky-by-far mash-up of their most famous piece ‘Csango Boogie’ and Kool & the Gang’s ‘Jungle Boogie’ and a special guest appearance from Radik Tyulyush of Huun-Huur-Tu providing Tuvan borbangnadyr, they blew everyone away when they led the whole audience in a singalong of the Kazakh national song ‘Kozimnin Karasi’ (written by Abai) learned especially for the occasion – a real spine-tingling moment.

This is a festival that knows what its audience wants and gives them exactly that for an entire weekend. As you might expect, that gives the Spirit of Tengri one of the most electric atmospheres you could hope for.


Photo: Ruslan Trochynskyi of Svjata Vatra gets down with the crowd at the Spirit of Tengri 2019, courtesy of onparty.me.

Boomtown 2019: Five Ones to Watch

Boomtown is a festival that I’ve had my eye on for quite a few years. Its reputation is immense, and so, by all accounts, is its personality. The whole thing is a giant performance art piece with a narrative that slowly reveals and trundles along year after year, with so many plots and subplots playing out in what has grown to be a city of music. Like any city, there are loads of districts in Boomtown (up to 14 this year), each with their own character, architecture and culture = and each with their own set of stages. There’s over 25 main stage and 80 smaller ‘street venues,’ all with their own programmes – that means there’s a LOT of music, of all sorts of styles.

And excitement – I get to go this year for the very first time! This year, it’s held over 7-11 August. The line-up looks amazing – as it does every year – and, yes, it’s absolutely humongous. So in my excitement, I thought I’d give you a run-down of just five artists that I cannot wait to catch there…now I’ve just got to hope that none of them clash!

Ozomatli feat. Chali 2na
Ozomatli are basically a globetrotting party. I’ve seen them live a handful of times now and every time they have absolutely blown me away – they’re still some of my favourite live shows to date. Their mix of hip-hop, rock, tropical pop and all sorts of Latin music from son to cumbia to samba to norteño and more is just so infectious, their shows turn into a joyful riot, it’s absolutely amazing. Even better: they’ve now reunited with Chali 2na of Jurassic 5 and an original Ozo band member – he’s got one of the most recognisable voices in hip-hop and his thoughtful lyrics and supreme flow put him, for me, right up there with the greatest rappers. I can’t wait to see them perform together.

Prophets of Rage
Okay, I’ve never actually heard any recordings of this group, but their pedigree is unreal. They’re a supergroup featuring members from Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill. Do I really have to say more? Yes yes, I know supergroups usually come out as less than the sum of their parts, but I’m willing to risk it. Come on: Chuck D and B-Real battling it out between funk-metal solos from Tom Morello – inject it directly into my veins.

BCUC
BCUC (Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness) are a group from Soweto that combine all the music of their neighbourhood, from traditional dance styles, church music and beerhouse songs to hip-hop, soul and rock. The group have been getting so much hype over the past 12 months, and I’ve got friends who are absolutely mad about them, saying they’re the greatest live group around right now. I saw them myself at WOMAD last year, and the crowd went nuts; thing is, their forever-looping riffs and heavy beats didn’t strike me at all, and I left, bored, after about 10 or 15 minutes. But the hype train has continued, so I fully admit I’m the one in the wrong – I’m looking forward to seeing them again in August to give them (and me) another chance.

Nubya Garcia
The UK jazz scene has been booming in the last decade, and saxophonist Nubya Garcia has been one of its leading lights. Her music brings in modal and spiritual jazz in the Coltrane way together with the contemporary styles being fermented in places such as Trinity Laban and Berklee as well as hip-hop, soul and electronica. I’ve never seen her show before, and festivals are all about new experiences – I reckon Nubya Garcia is one I can bank on to be a winner.

Mik Artistik’s Ego Trip
Would it really be a festival season without Mik Artistik? The loony Leedsman* has been a staple on the festival circuit for many years and he’s the perfect act for when you’re quite drunk, quite muddy and just a little disorientated. He’s absolutely bananas, he’s hilarious but he’s also touchingly earnest when he wants to be, all while making music behind his trusty little Yamaha keyboard. The man is a legend, and if you’ve never heard or seen him before, you owe it to yourself to go and experience this true institution of British festivals.



…and then there’s so many others. Gogol Bordello, General Levy, San Salvador, Bassekou Kouyate, Napalm Death, DJ Yoda, Asian Dub Foundation, The Streets, Skream and the man behind it all AAA Badboy…there is so much great music happening everywhere that it seems pretty much impossible not to see some amazing and unexpected artists wherever the current takes you. And really, what I’m most looking forward to is that atmosphere, and diving into the huge, deep and bonkers world that is created at Boomtown every year. Basically, I can’t wait! So if you’re heading over, I’ll hopefully see you there, and either way I’m sure you’ll hear about my exploits on here sooner or later.


*Okay, I just looked it up and the actually demonym for someone from Leeds is a Leodensian, which is awesome but also completely impenetrable, so I’m leaving it as Leedsman, and all of you Yorkishers are just going to have to deal with it.

UK Festival Guide 2019

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 148, June 2019. Copy deadline 15 April 2019.



May 10-26
Norfolk & Norwich Festival
Various locations, Norfolk
www.nnfestival.org.uk
248 and nowhere near out
As the Norfolk & Norwich Festival edges its way towards the quarter-millennium mark, you just know that it must be doing something right. As an all-around arts festival, you’re as likely to see book talks and circus performances as you are theatre shows and films, and music is of course a huge part of it. Songlines readers are most likely to get excited at the prospect of performances by artists such as Afriquoi and Liniker e os Caramelows, plus the recently reformed Las Maravillas de Mali and father-daughter duos Eliza and Martin Carthy, and Anandi and Debashish Bhattacharya.

May 23-26
Knockengorroch World Ceilidh
Knockengorroch, Dumfries and Galloway
www.knockengorroch.org.uk
You can’t Knock it
Every year, some of the world’s most accomplished musicians head to the hills of south-west Scotland for a righteous celebration of people, culture and the Knockengorroch’s beautiful surroundings. Joining the party this year are poet of the people Benjamin Zephaniah with reggae band The Revolutionary Minds, the spectacular Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers, Haitian voodoo blues priestess Moonlight Benjamin and Basque folk band Korrontzi. The theme for this year’s festival is ‘at the end of the rainbow’: open your mind and body to love, hope, diversity and unity, and maybe even a bit of magic…

May 23-26
Orkney Folk Festival
Various locations, Orkney
www.orkneyfolkfestival.com
Islands of sound
There’s something thrilling about island-based festivals, and the Orkney Folk Festival is no exception, as Orkney becomes flooded with the best traditional music from Scotland and beyond. The line-up includes famed folkies such as Julie Fowlis and Cara Dillon, young stars-in-waiting such as Ryan Young & Jenn Butterworth and Lyra, and the occasionally unexpected artist such as the UK’s premier son Cubano group, Son Yambu. The festival is especially known for its many pub sessions, open mics and sing-a-rounds, for everyone to join in the folky fun.

May 24-26
Góbé Fest
Albert Square, Manchester
www.gobefest.com
From Transylvania to Manchester, it’s time to party like a Hungarian
The UK is home to people of all nations, as well as many communities of minority cultures who take strong pride in expressing their traditions. One of these groups is the Székler – ethnic Hungarians from the region of Transylvania in Romania – and a festival celebrating their heritage, Góbé Fest, is fast becoming one of the most important in Manchester’s calendar. The festival focuses mostly on zene és tánc (that is, music and dance) of all sorts, from Székler folkloric group Maros Ensemble and zither innovator Krajcsó Bence to the Romanian Celtic punk band The Selfish Murphy and Balkan ska group Laszlo Baby.

June 22-23
Africa Oyé
Sefton Park, Liverpool, Merseyside
www.africaoye.com
Africans and Scousers – the perfect mix
Returning for its 27th year, Africa Oyé is a true Liverpool institution. For two days in midsummer, the festival brings the best in music and food from all across Africa and the African-influenced Americas with a uniquely Scouse joie de vivre; it’s not summer without Africa Oyé. And even better: entrance is completely free, giving everything a real community atmosphere. At the time of writing, Oyé only has a handful of artists, but those names are already enough to get you dancing in anticipation, with groups such as BCUC (South Africa), Sofiane Saidi & Mazalda (Algeria) and Oshun (USA) on the bill.

June 26-30
Glastonbury
Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset
www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk
It’s big, it’s back and it’s bonkers
To call Glastonbury ‘the big one’ is still somehow underselling it. This festival is huge and rightly known around the world as an international centre of amazing music of almost literally every genre – whatever your niche musical taste, there’s a good chance you will be able to enjoy it at Glastonbury. Although the festival’s world music line-up is a little under-represented in the first announcement (confirmed names include Fatoumata Diawara, BCUC and Sons of Kemet), you can be sure that there will be many, many more exciting names to come.

July 2-14
Flamenco Festival London
Sadler’s Wells, London
www.flamencofestival.org
The flamenco passion warms up summer
Based in New York, Flamenco Festival has held editions in more than 100 cities around the world, and it has been an important part of London’s cultural scene for more than 15 years. The festival is focused on all things flamenco, from the traditional music and dance to explorations of the style with classical music, jazz and more. An especially intriguing prospect comes in the form of the Amir ElSaffar ensemble, who mix flamenco with Iraqi maqam. Previously held in February, the festival will heat up Sadler’s Wells in July for the first time in 2019.

July 12-14
Tropical Pressure
Mount Pleasant Eco Park, Porthtowan, Cornwall
www.tropicalpressure.co.uk
Pressure never felt this good
Set on an idyllic farm in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, just a short walk from the beach, there may be no more relaxing location to dance your socks off than at Tropical Pressure. During the day, live music from across Africa, South America and the Caribbean gets you in the tropical mindset, before the late-night zones open for continued partying in UFO clubs, cocktail bars and silent discos, or perhaps for extended chill-out sessions around the campfire.



July 14
Folk by the Oak
Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire
www.folkbytheoak.com
A grand day out
One day, two stages, and just a whole load of great music. Folk by the Oak is only 20-something miles out of London, but it might as well be on the other side of the world. Set in the grounds of Hatfield House, this festival has the vibe of a village fayre but with world-class musicians instead of dodgy amateur choirs. One of the highlights is sure to be the specially commissioned musical companion to the The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, featuring artists such as Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, Seckou Keita and Rachel Newton.

July 17-20
HebCelt
Stornoway, Isle of Lewis
www.hebceltfest.com
Celtic folk celebration
HebCelt shines a light on all things Celtic, and its line-up is heavy with folk-slanted acts from the Hebrides, Scotland and further afield. The main bulk of the festival takes place in the stunning arena, looking down from Stornoway’s castle onto the harbour, but there are also programmes in venues across the town and the Isle. Don’t forget the late-night ceilidhs, pub sessions and club nights that take place throughout the festival to keep the Celtic vibes going on well into the next day.

July 18-21
Larmer Tree Festival
Larmer Tree Gardens, Wiltshire
www.larmertreefestival.co.uk
Party with the peacocks and move with the macaws
Set among the lawns and woods of the Larmer Tree Gardens, with a Victorian-era stage and smatterings of peacocks and macaws, Larmer Tree Festival is as well-known for its beautiful location as its music. Together they add up to an extremely agreeable weekend! The music on offer is a mix of folk, jazz, reggae and pop as well as plenty of internationally-inclined artists such as Melt Yourself Down, KOKOROKO and recent Songlines cover star Blick Bassy.

July 25-28
WOMAD
Charlton Park, Malmesbury, Wiltshire
www.womad.co.uk
The grand dame of world music festivals does it again
The World of Music, Arts and Dance is still probably the best place to experience the highest square-footage of the world’s culture in just one weekend. As usual, WOMAD presents a wonderful mix of both superstars (Salif Keita, Orbital, Ziggy Marley) and the little known: from the ancient traditions of South Asian surti music from Ustad Saami and the yidaki (didgeridoo) player Larry Gurruwiwi to the cutting edge sounds of ‘new rave from Kinshasa’ with Bantou Mentale and Korean future folk from Kim So Ra. Don’t forget to delve into some of the many workshops, talks, spoken-word sessions and cooking demonstrations.

August 1-4
Cambridge Folk Festival
Cherry Hinton Hall, Cambridge
www.cambridgelive.org.uk/folk-festival
Dispatches from the wide field of folk
Nowadays, the concept of ‘folk’ is a very broad church – something we very much approve of – and the Cambridge Folk Festival is one of the institutions that led to that transformation. In their 50-plus years of festivalling, the Cambridge line-ups have expanded to include deep traditions and cutting-edge innovations from around the world, while never abandoning the British roots music at its core. Exciting prospects this year include ‘From Bamako to Birmingham,’ a special collaboration between Amadou & Mariam and the Blind Boys of Alabama where Afropop meets gospel.

August 2-4
Underneath the Stars
Cinderhill Farm, Cawthorne, South Yorkshire
www.underthestarsfest.co.uk
Celestial music – there’s all sorts of stars here
For a festival run by Kate Rusby’s production company and just a stone’s throw from her hometown of Barnsley, it’s no surprise that Underneath the Stars has a focus on folk. Artists such as The Unthanks, Billy Bragg and Talisk are all near the top end of the bill, and names such as Le Vent du Nord from Québec and K.O.G. and the Zongo Brigade bring an international flavour to proceedings. With spectacular art installations around the site, artisan food and several indulgent glamping options, this festival is a feast for all the senses.

August 16-18
FolkEast
Glemham Hall, Suffolk
www.folkeast.co.uk
Full of eastern promise
Of their currently-announced 2019 line-up, FolkEast say ‘so far, so good.’ A bit of an understatement, that: the bill is headed by Richard Thomson, Cara Dillon, Sharon Shannon and Karine Polwart and carries on in that fashion all the way down – there’s folk royalty and up-and-coming talents for days (three, to be exact). FolkEast has the air of a fête to it, so as well as just music, expect many local contributions from Morris dancing to food stalls to real ale breweries.

August 22-25
Shambala
Secret location, Northamptonshire
www.shambalafestival.org
The best kept secret that everyone knows about
The location of Shambala remains a mystery, but the legendary tales of the wonderful festival frivolity to be had within its bounds are no secret. The festival’s motto is ‘Adventures in Utopia,’ and that should give you a bit of a clue as to its vibe: everyone working together to create a little corner of perfection, just for one weekend. A truly global line-up sees appearances from Hindustani slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya, Nigerien-Belgian essouf rock trio Kel Assouf and international London klezmorim Don Kipper, with many more to be announced.



August 23-26
Shrewsbury Folk Festival
West Midlands Showground, Shropshire
www.shrewsburyfolkfestival.co.uk
Sensational Salopian celebration
As well as presenting some of the best in folk music from across our own Atlantic archipelago and from further seas the world over, the Shrewsbury Folk Festival are also keen to make a real impact on the local music ecosystem with projects such as Room for All and All Together Now, promoting new and international music schemes across Shropshire. Add in a specially-programmed ‘youth festival’ called Refolkus, which introduces the younger set to the wonders of folk art, dance, music and crafts, this is a festival with eyes on the future as well as the present.

August 23-26
Towersey Festival
Thame Showground, Oxfordshire
www.towerseyfestival.com
Folk for all the family
A regular fixture of the August bank holiday, the Towersey Festival is four days of family-focused folk fun. Among the musical offerings are the Fisherman’s Friends, gracing the stage fresh from their cinema-based notoriety, and a special all-star tribute to the festival’s ever-present performer and patron Roy Bailey, who passed away in November 2018, featuring Tom Robinson, Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting and John Kirkpatrick. Arrive on the Thursday and take part in the Early Arrivals Ball… a grand name for a grand ceilidh.

September 6-30
London African Music Festival
Various venues, London
www.joyfulnoise.co.uk/london-african-music-festival
30 years of Joyful Noise
The 17th edition of the London African Music Festival coincides with the 30th year of the festival’s producers, Joyful Noise, and so the celebrations are suitably large and loud. Artists from every corner of the African continent and its diaspora will descend on jazz clubs, churches and arts venues around London throughout September, with big names such as Benjamin Zephaniah, Kel Assouf and Fofoulah appearing alongside groups making their UK debut, including Abdul and the Gang from Morocco and Chicas de la Habana from Cuba.

October 10-13
Darbar Festival
Barbican Centre, London
www.darbar.org
Majestic mehfils for all times of day
Darbar Festival is the UK’s premier celebration of Indian classical arts. Held this year between the Barbican Theatre and Guildhall’s Milton Court, Darbar hosts scintillating double-bills of legendary Indian artists, such as sitarist Budhaditya Mukherjee with father and son santoor players Shivkumar and Rahul Sharma, and tabla trio Tabla Grooves with Hindustani violinist Kala Ramnath. There’s also the opportunity to enjoy relaxing morning ragas sung in dhrupad style in their natural context – at 10am; it’s sure to be a wonderful experience for those that make it.

October 16-20
Manchester Folk Festival
Various venues, Manchester
www.manchesterfolkfestival.org.uk
From next-big-things to the best in the biz
Running alongside the English Folk Expo, the Manchester Folk Festival is a great opportunity to watch showcase performances from some of the most hotly-tipped young and emerging artists on the English folk scene alongside already shining stars such as Kate Rusby, Rowan Rheingans and the Unthanks. For the first time, the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards will be hosted as part of the festival, in Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, so if there’s one place to get your finger on the pulse of the folk scene today, it’s here.

October 18-20
Musicport Festival
Whitby, North Yorkshire
www.musicportfestival.com
Celebrating 20 years!
The Musicport team hosts events in and around Whitby all year, but the festival is the main event, held in the Whitby Pavilion, a cosy theatre that dates back to the 19th century. Over past 20 years, Musicport has brought the great and the good of world music to the Pavilion, and the glimpse of line-up that we have for 2019 so far looks set to continue that tradition with international stars abound: sevdah singer Amira Medunjanin, UK reggae legends Misty in Roots, electro-Celtipunks Peatbog Faeries and Saharawi hero Aziza Brahim will surely be among the highlights this year.

November 16-28
London International Arts Festival
Various venues, London
www.liaf.co.uk
Karnatic music with a global perspective
The London International Arts Festival is the brainchild of UK-based Karnatic violinist Jyotsna Srikanth, and it started with the aim of promoting South Indian music within the UK. Over the past seven years, however, its remit has broadened: Karnatic music is still high on the agenda, but it has grown to include art music from cultures around the world. Community projects take to the stage alongside verifiable stars of South Asian music and fusion; collaborations are never too far away.

January 16-Feb 2 2020
Celtic Connections
Various venues, Glasgow
www.celticconnections.com
Entering a new decade of international music
Ringing in the new decade, Celtic Connections will start the year (as it does every year) with the best of trad, folk, jazz, world, Americana and more. If that sounds like a lot, it is: there are more than 300 concerts over 18 days in venues all across Glasgow. It feels as though the 2019 edition has only just come to a close, and so there are no specific details about 2020 yet, but you can be sure that the ever-expansive programme will have something for everyone, especially with Celtic Connections’ trademark boundary-breaking collaborations that can’t be heard anywhere else. Keep an eye out at the late-night Festival Club, the home of spontaneous and unexpected jams from some of the festival’s biggest names.


Photos from top: Knockengorroch World Ceilidh; WOMAD; Tropical Pressure.

International World Music Festival Guide 2019-2020

First published as a standalone booklet produced by Songlines Magazine. Copy deadline 1 February 2019.



April 18-22 2019
National Folk Festival
Canberra, Australia
www.folkfestival.org.au
Australian roots and international routes
Canberra might not be the first place you’d think of visiting when planning a trip in Australia, despite its position as the nation’s capital. Every autumn, however, the capital explodes with all sorts of roots music. The National Folk Festival stages folk music from Australia, the UK, Ireland and North America, blues, country and bluegrass music, as well as fulfilling its specific commitment to the promotion of music of Australia’s indigenous peoples.

April 24-28 2019
Festival International de Louisiane
Lafayette, Louisiana, US
www.festivalinternational.org
Get those bon temps rolling
This festival brings the music of Louisiana to the world and the music of the world to Louisiana. The focus is on the state’s international connections, especially to other Francophone cultures: they’ve boasted artists from Prince Edward Island to Haiti, and from Morocco to DR Congo, as well as including some of the best zydeco, blues and jazz to be heard today. The culture-sharing doesn’t stop at music either, with local and international arts, crafts and food high on the priority. It says a lot when a festival has an official brand of hot sauce!

May 18 2019
Azgo Festival
Maputo, Mozambique
www.azgofestival.com
Let’s go Luso!
Taking its name from the Maputo slang for ‘Let’s go!’, the Azgo Festival brings that enthusiasm for music in all its forms. The programme reflects the variety of Mozambique’s musical cultures, but as the country’s first annual international music festival, it’s also a celebration of its cultural links within Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Lusosphere. International stars appearing at the festival last year included Flávia Coelho from Brazil, Nathalie Natiembé from La Réunion and Sara Tavares from Cape Verde.

May 21-25 2019
Druga Godba
Ljubljana & Maribor, Slovenia
www.drugagodba.si/en
What a Ljubli festival!
Druga Godba has been a highlight of Central Europe’s musical calendar for a long time now, and they’re gearing up for their 35th edition for 2019. With a line-up featuring around 15 top-tier international artists from every continent, Druga Godba just can’t contain itself: the festival is usually held in the capital Ljubljana, but this year it will be spread over two cities, with concerts being held in venues across both Ljubljana and Maribor, the country’s second largest city – and a festival pass also grants you free transport between the two cities.

May 24-26 2019
MTN Bushfire
Malkerns, Eswatini
www.bush-fire.com
Burning passion in Eswatini
For three days a year, the population of the small town of Malkerns in Eswatini swells to three times its usual size as party-goers come for the world-class line-up of the MTN Bushfire festival. Already announced for 2019 are stars such as Oliver Mtukudzi and Dobet Gnahore and up-and-coming artists from around Africa and further abroad. It’s not about music and dancing though. Bushfire encourages all attendees to heed their call to ‘bring your fire’ – to participate in actions for social change in Eswatini and throughout southern Africa through sustainability, cultural exchange and creative expression.

May 30 - June 2 2019
Africa Festival
Würzburg, Germany
www.africafestival.org/en
African days in German ways
After its bonanza 30th edition last year, the Africa Festival is not letting up, with another impressive roster heading to the historic Bavarian city for 2019. The festival this year kicks off with an all-Caribbean affair with party music from Trinidad, Aruba and Curaçao before welcoming Haitian voodoo-blues priestess Moonlight Benjamin. The weekend continues with music from stars such as Femi Kuti, BCUC and Mokoomba. Aside from music, the festival also features cinema, a photography exhibition, a children’s programme and the presentation of awards to outstanding musicians and institutions who are helping the African continent in powerful ways.

June 7-9 2019
Sakifo Festival
Saint-Pierre, La Réunion
www.sakifo.com/festival
Musical bridges to the paradise island
An outrageously diverse music festival on the beach of a beautiful island in the middle of the Indian Ocean – it’s not hard to see why Sakifo is one of the most esteemed international music festivals of Africa. Over the past 15 years, they have welcomed the best of Réunionese music (Danyèl Waro, René Lecaille), world music royalty (Asian Dub Foundation, Calypso Rose, Salif Keita), and some of the biggest names around the world of any genre (M.I.A., Manu Chao, George Clinton). From the most traditional styles to the most cutting-edge contemporary musicians, the party lasts well into the night and on until the early morning.

June 8-10 2019
International Music Meeting Festival
Nijmegen, The Netherlands
www.musicmeeting.nl
To-Whit To-world-music
They have built up a reputation over the past 35 years as one of the most globetrotting and culturally invigorating Whit weekends you can have – and it’s all in Nijmegen’s beautiful Park Brakkenstein to boot. Ever since their first audiences danced to Les Ambassadeurs in 1985, the International Music Meeting Festival has brought along some of the hottest artists from the world and jazz scenes. The festival is also known for its dedication to improvised music and one-off collaborations – so expect the very much unexpected!

June 13-16 2019
¡Rio Loco!
Toulouse, France
www.rio-loco.org
Rivers of music
Toulouse is the place to go to witness authentic Occitan culture and language in daily use, but in mid-June it also becomes the place to explore a world in music. ¡Rio Loco! is the biggest event in Toulouse’s musical calendar, attracting more than 100,000 visitors to the riverside meadow of La Prairie des Filtres. The musical line-up takes a different cultural or geographical focus every year – in the past, focuses have included international rumba, the islands of the Indian Ocean and the Celtic world – as well as inviting some of the hottest acts on the world music scene.

June 14-29 2019
Morgenland Festival
Osnabrück, Germany
www.morgenland-festival.com
Ancient traditions from tomorrow’s world
The Morgenland Festival presents all sorts of music from or inspired by the Near and Middle East and the historic Silk Road. This includes classical and folk music, jazz and avant-garde offerings, all bound by the highest artistic integrity. This year will be the 15th edition of the festival, with musical delicacies on offer including mugham master Alim Qasimov, Kurdish folk singer Aynur and Songlines Newcomer Award winner Maya Youssef. It doesn’t stop in Osnabrück either, with international projects happening throughout the year: in October, Morgenland will present special concerts in Almaty, Kazakhstan and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

June 20-23 2019
Essaouira Gnaoua & World Music Festival
Essaouira, Morocco
www.festival-gnaoua.net
Gnawa to the globe
As you might guess from its name, the Essaouira Festival started life as a gathering of the Moroccan Gnawa people and their unique musical traditions. Gnawa music is still the order of the day, but the festival’s 22 years have seen it open its line-up to world-renowned jazz and traditional musicians from around the world – a particular highlight is the festival’s specially commissioned genre-busting international collaborations. Expect plenty of gu imbri lutes, handclapping and a whole load of clattering qaraqab castanets!

June 21-29 2019
Mawazine Festival Rhythms of the World
Rabat, Morocco
www.festivalmawazine.ma
A royal feast
With the Essaouira, Fes and Mawazine Festivals all taking place in such a short space of time, Morocco is the place to be in June! Boasting the royal patronage of King Mohammed VI, the Mawazine Festival makes a particular point of bringing through young Maghrebi artists from all different spheres of music to share the bill alongside huge international stars in venues across the Moroccan capital. Big names from 2018 included Bruno Mars and Oumou Sangaré alongside Moroccan legends Nass el Ghiwane.

June 27-29 2019
Festival MED
Loulé, Portugal
www.festivalmed.pt/en
You’d be MED to miss it
The Algarve region of southern Portugal is known for its bustling and touristic beach resorts, but not too far from the city of Faro lies the traditional market town of Loulé, the perhaps surprising location for a world music festival of international renown. Festival MED was actually started as a fringe event to the Euro 2004 football competition, but the festival has long taken on a life of its own. Specialising in ‘different and unique’ music, the line-up is a feast of flavours from the Lusophone world and further afield: Asian Dub Foundation, Bonga and 47SOUL all played at last year’s edition.

July 2019, dates tbc
EtnoKraków / Rozstaje
Kraków, Poland
www.etnokrakow.pl/en
I went down to the crossroads…
Crossroads have always had metaphorical meaning in cultures around the world – they represent a meeting place where differences can be confronted and examined and strangers can learn from each other. Rozstaje, the Polish word for crossroads, is a fitting name for this festival, where worldwide cultures meet in a whirl of music. Alongside an eclectic international line-up – last year including Alireza Ghorbani and Chico Trujillo – there is always sure to be an array of home-grown Polish artists exploring or revisiting their traditions in various exciting ways.



July 3-7 2019
Førde Traditional and World Music Festival
Førde, Norway
www.fordefestival.com
Festival sans frontiers
As its name would suggest, the Førde Festival’s offering always skew more towards the traditional – and often more acoustic – end of things, although intercultural collaboration is always encouraged. Every year, the festival has a motto that provides a broad artistic through-line to the programme; in honour of this year’s special anniversary edition, 2019’s motto is ‘30 years without borders!’. With 300 performers from 25 countries, including Kroke, The Garifuna Collective and Anandi Bhattacharya, the festival will be a real visa-free musical adventure.

July 4-7 2019
Rudolstadt Festival
Thuringia, Germany
www.rudolstadt-festival.de/en
Taking over the town
From its roots in a German folk dance festival in the 1950s, the Rudolstadt Festival has evolved into an all-encompassing event celebrating music and dance from all over the world. The festival’s 20 stages are dotted all around the small town of Rudolstadt, with the picturesque main arena set among the trees of Heinepark on the banks of the Saale river and watched over by the Heidecksburg castle. As well as regular programmed stages hosting top-class world music artists, the festival also welcomes buskers to contribute less formal – but no less accomplished – performances to the streets throughout the weekend.

July 4-7 2019
Sunfest
London, Ontario, Canada
www.sunfest.on.ca
Here comes the sun
When you’re heading to Sunfest, make sure you get the right Victoria Park in the right London… this one hosts Canada’s biggest world music festival! Sunfest expects to welcome over 220,000 visitors this year, and with free admission, you can see why. The tagline for this year’s milestone edition is ‘Celebrating 25 Years of world culture,’ but they’re not looking backwards in terms of line-up, which will feature of some the most exciting artists around today, including Gaye Su Akyol, Ladama and Tal National.

July 6-7, 2019
Afrika Festival Hertme
Hertme, The Netherlands
www.afrikafestivalhertme.nl/en
Hot summers and hotter music
In a Dutch meadow in a forest clearing, next to a lovely little kirk… where better for a spot of the hottest African music? You’re guaranteed to see some huge names at the Afrika Festival Hertme – past headliners have included Youssou N’dour, Oumou Sangaré and Hugh Masekela. Don’t only come for the big names, though; the rest of the line-up is a sprawling look at the music of the African continent as well as occasional guests from the Caribbean and South America. Be sure to check out the stalls too, offering food, arts and crafts from across Africa and the world.

July 8-14 2019
Les Suds à Arles
Arles, France
www.suds-arles.com
All-day sounds
Les Suds à Arles is a culmination of a year’s worth of cultural events in the city of Arles and the region of Camargue – an entire week of music, workshops and masterclasses from some of the world’s most well-respected artists. The programme runs for 18 hours a day – that’s 10am till 4am – so if you’re awake, there’s probably music to dance to or a new skill to learn. The first performance announced for 2019 is a collaboration between the Lebanese trumpet virtuoso Ibrahim Maalouf and French-based pan-Balkan brass band Haïdouti Orkestar that is sure to combine ferocity, intricacy and intensity.

July 10-14 2019
Riddu Riđđu
Gáivuotna-Kåfjord, Norway
www.riddu.no/en
A Sámi storm
Held around about the 69th parallel, is Riddu Riđđu the most northerly festival? It’s certainly up there. It’s a festival held to promote the culture and language of the Sámi people of northern Scandinavia. Sámi music is obviously high on the agenda, but the line-up also includes artists from oppressed cultures throughout the world, with a particular spotlight on female performers. This year’s highlight is sure to be the concert of three generations of badass female indigenous artists, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Tanya Tagaq and Maxida Märak representing Cree, Inuit and Sámi cultures respectively.

July 12-28 2019
Glatt & Verkehrt
Krems an der Donau, Austria
www.glattundverkehrt.at/en
On the beautiful blue Danube
The Austrian city of Krems is alive with the sounds of international music in July. Glatt & Verkehrt takes place over 16 days in castles, churches and even stables, with the stipulation that performing artists must in some way explore the roots of their music. As well as concerts, the festival hosts sessions of informal ‘table music’ along with speeches and discussions about the sounds on offer. To give you a flavour of what to expect, last year featured artists such as Trio Da Kali from Mali, Söndörgő from Hungary and Made Subandi from Indonesia.

July 12-14 2019
Rainforest World Music Festival
Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
www.rwmf.net
Fun in the ‘forest
Held among the rainforest of Borneo in the Malaysian province of Sarawak, the aptly-named Rainforest World Music Festival must be a contender for the most stunning festival location in the world. Last year, the festival brought in artists from as far apart as the Comoros, the Solomon Islands and the Isle of Skye (as well as non-island-based musicians), together with a whole host of traditional and not-so-traditional music from Sarawak. The performances take place in the evening, meaning the day is left for you to explore the beautiful lakeside surroundings or attend one of the many workshops the festival provides.

July 17-20 2019
Colours of Ostrava
Ostrava, Czech Republic
www.colours.cz
A giant of a festival
Colours of Ostrava is BIG – as in more than 450 performances across 21 stages big – and all contained within the industrial charm of a former ironworks. World music has always been a major part of the line-up, and 2019 promises to be no different, with fado extraordinaire Mariza and open-eared string quartet Kronos Quartet heading up the bill alongside mainstream acts such as The Cure and Florence + The Machine. The main festival is immediately preceded by the Czech Music Crossroads showcase and conference, so arrive early to discover the next big things in Central European music.

July 18-27 2019
FMM Sines
Sines & Porto Covo, Portugal
en.fmmsines.pt
Boogie on the beach
For ten days in July, the beautiful coast of south-west Portugal becomes a haven of worldwide music. Festival Músicas do Mundo Sines is held in the old towns of two of the region’s most picturesque settlements: starting off with four days in the seaside village of Porto Covo, followed by six days in Sines, including stages in a castle and on a beach – who doesn’t love a stage on the beach? Sines boasts one of the most varied line-ups of a festival anywhere; there’s no announcements for 2019 just yet, but last year’s big hitters included Vieux Farka Touré, Sons of Kemet and BaBa ZuLa.

July 23 - August 4 2019
Okarina
Bled, Slovenia
www.festival-okarina.si
Great minds think a-lake
So many festivals in so many distinct environments… but the scenery of Okarina festival must surely take some beating. The festival’s main venue of Bled Castle looks down across the breathtaking vista of Lake Bled, the old town and the surrounding forests. There’s even a church on a little island – that’s just ridiculous levels of charm. And what better complement to an astounding landscape than an outstanding soundscape? There’s all sorts on offer: last year featured everything from Luso-club innovators Gato Preto, to hypnagogic string duo Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita, to Caribbean jazz phenomenon Bokanté.

August 2019, dates tbc
Mekudeshet
Jerusalem, Israel
en.mekudeshet.com
The sound of a city
Jerusalem is a city of many cultures, and aim of the Mekudeshet festival is to distil the atmosphere of the city and the potential it holds with the hope that art can bring about positive change to the city and its people. It is an event around all kinds of art, including performance art, sound instillations and, of course, music, with a particular focus on boundary breaking and spectacular new commissions and collaborations.

August 2019, dates tbc
O Sol de Caparica
Costa da Caparica, Portugal
www.osoldacaparica-festival.pt
Music of the urban world
If you had to pick the perfect party location, you could do much worse than a luscious park just a minute’s walk from the beach and a mere few kilometres from downtown Lisbon, in the heart of the Portuguese summer. There you’ll find O Sol de Caparica, a festival of party music and urban culture ideal for jumping around and sweating yourself silly. This is the music of the cities from across the Lusosphere, from hip-hop to kizomba, punk to samba and when you need to cool off, there’s also fado and morna to keep you in that heady mood.



August 1-3 2019
Urkult
Näsaker, Sweden
www.urkult.se/en
Dabble in the Urkult
Urkult has a mystical atmosphere about it thanks to its surroundings in the ancient forests of Sweden, and helped along by a programme of folk and folk-influenced music from every continent. There’s even a spectacular ‘night of fire’ on the Thursday night. In keeping with this ethos, the festival aims to be completely neutral in its environmental impact: all the food is sourced from local, low-impact farmers; all waste is composted or recycled on-site; the main stage is even a natural amphitheatre – a truly ‘leave no trace’ festival.

August 2-11 2019
Festival Interceltique Lorient
Lorient, France
www.festival-interceltique.bzh
A Global Celt Sound System
The region of Brittany is well-known for its Celtic heritage, and it’s an identity that’s held up high every August as part of the Festival Interceltique Lorient. It’s a giant celebration of all things Celtic, with delegations coming in from the Celtic nations and their diasporas in the Americas and Oceania. And it is giant: there are around 750,000 visitors every year. Music is always a huge part of the festivities, but so are food, sports and other traditional arts. The 2019 programme has a special focus on the culture of Galicia.

August 14-15 2019
MeYouZik
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
www.bit.ly/meyouzik
A big festival in a small country
In one of Europe’s smallest countries, one of its best festivals! The season-spanning Summer in the City programme sees Luxembourg City welcome artists and audiences from all over the place from June until September. For world music fans, the highlight will no doubt be the MeYouZik festival held in mid-August. In a city in which almost 70% of residents were born outside the country, cultural openness is obviously an important quality, which is reflected by the festival’s line-up: 2018 saw 25 free concerts by artists including Blitz the Ambassador, Bitori and Mokoomba.

August/September 2019, dates tbc
Ulsan World Music Festival (Cheoyong)
Ulsan, South Korea
www.ucityfesta.or.kr
Expanding the horizons
The original purpose of the Ulsan World Music Festival was to expose the Korean people to the multifarious sounds of traditions from around the world. Although the premise took some time to take off, it’s now an important and highly anticipated cultural event in the city of Ulsan. At least 65% of the line-up each year is made up of international artists, and the audience votes on their favourite artist of that edition – previous winners have included Gipsy.cz and Bajofondo Tango Club.

September 2019, dates tbc
Konya Mystic Music Festival
Konya, Turkey
www.mistikmuzik.gov.tr
Scintillating Sufis
The musical arts are key to the mystical Sufi branch of Islam. Sufism is responsible for huge swathes of the world’s most beautiful, intense and transcendental music, and the Konya Mystic Music Festival aims to showcase the breadth of Sufi traditions in one of its historic centres. The festival is held in Konya’s Mawlana Culture Centre, the home of the Mevlevi Sufi order famed for their ecstatic ‘whirling dervish’ ceremonies. Last year, artists were invited from as far apart as Morocco and Uzbekistan, with the biggest names being shashmaqam master Munadjat Yulchieva and kafi star Abida Parveen.

September 9-15 2019
Transform: Trondheim World Music Festival
Trondheim, Norway
www.transform.no
It’s time for change
The Transform festival takes its name to heart: it’s not a place where artists simply drop in, play their usual set and head off again, ready for the next artist to come on stage. Instead, Transform promotes newness and change. International musicians – some of whom are making their European debuts – are encouraged to collaborate with local Norwegian artists to create as-yet-unheard-of sounds throughout the festival and the annual programme of concerts. The concert programme also features seminars looking at the wider picture of global political collaboration.

September 13-29 2019
World Music Festival Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, US
www.worldmusicfestivalchicago.org
Musical breezes in the windy city
Chicago is a city with music in its blood – you can’t talk about the history of the city without mentioning its contributions to the world of music. It’s unsurprising, then, that Chicago would take world music to its heart. Huge crowds – more than 650,000 every year – turn out to see the great and the good of international music in venues across the city. 2018’s line-up included Jupiter / Okwess from DR Congo, Altan from Ireland and La Dame Blanche from Cuba and France.

September 18-22 2019
Cross Culture Festival
Warsaw, Poland
www.festival.warszawa.pl
Palatial sounds from across the continents
The Polish capital’s annual festival of worldwide musical stories returns for its 15th edition this year. Five gala concerts take place in the grounds of Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science, and each concert has its specific theme – last year there were evenings of jump-up-and-down music, pan-European collaborations, and a Polish showcase. 2018 had a particularly African-heavy line-up, with start turns coming from Mulatu Astatke, Orchestra Baobab and Nneka. The festival also features a special children’s programme of music, dance and play during the mornings before the concerts take over for the rest of the day.

September 26-29 2019
Lotus World Music and Arts Festival
Bloomington, Indiana, US
www.lotusfest.org/festival
Learning and Lotuses Since it started in 1994, the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival has welcomed artists from more than 120 countries to venues across the famous college city of Bloomington, Indiana. Musical offerings in 2018 included Anandi Bhattacharya of India, Delgres of Guadeloupe, Kaumakaiwa Kanaka'ole of Hawaii and Aar Maanta of Somalia. It’s the only world music festival in Indiana, and it’s part of the wider Lotus Education & Arts Foundation, using music and art to create opportunities for cultural understanding and exchange. As such, the programme includes many free events including workshops, an arts village and outreach into local schools.

September 27-29 2019
World Music Festival Bratislava
Bratislava, Slovakia
www.worldmusicfestival.sk
The young festival with a timeless line-up
Although this festival is rather new – this will only be its fourth edition – it has already built up a solid reputation with previous events inviting artists such as King Ayisoba, Marco Marković and Kalàscima. As well as international artists, WMFB is also an excellent place to discover the relatively unknown Slovakian folk music – the programme is roughly divided into half each. With the concerts taking place in the evening, the daytime also offers a conference, where you can learn about a whole host of musical traditions and meet the movers and shakers of Slovakian music.

September/November 2019, dates tbc
MIMO Brasil
Various locations, Brazil
www.mimo.art.br
Four festie fun
When is a festival not a festival? When it’s a whole bunch of them! All throughout the spring months, there are MIMO Festivals throughout Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraty and the mother event of them all in the beautiful northern city of Olinda. The festival’s raison d'être is to promote lesser-known Brazilian musical styles alongside an adventurous international line-up and a series of musically oriented films. International concerts last year came from Songhoy Blues, Noura Mint Seymali and 47SOUL.

October 2019, dates tbc
Jeonju Sori International Festival
Jeonju, South Korea
www.sorifestival.com
A sound for sori ears
Pansori is the epic storytelling song of Korea. Traditionally performed by one singer and one drummer, performances of pansori can last up to eight hours. The Jeonju Sori International Festival presents the whole range of pansori as it is performed today, from traditional master musicians to hardcore innovators. The stages are also open to art music from around the world – in 2018, the festival welcomed ensembles from Senegal to Indonesia and Turkey to Spain – and workshops introduce each musical style for those wanting to learn more.

October 2019, dates tbc
World Creole Music Festival
Roseau, Dominica
www.dominicafestivals.com/about-wcmf
In-Creole-dable
We all know that the Caribbean is the home of some of the hottest music in the world – the World Creole Music Festival in Dominica is there to prove it! It’s one of the oldest of a growing number of festivals on the island, and it’s really just one big party. The international sports stadium in the capital Roseau becomes a temple for dance music from all over the Caribbean as well as special guests from Africa and North America – the highlight of last year’s festivities was the legendary zouk band Kassav’.

October 10-14 2019
Jodhpur RIFF (Rajasthan International Folk Festival)
Jodhpur, India
www.jodhpurriff.org
Jodhpur jewels
The 15th century Mehrangarh Fort that looks down on the city of Jodhpur is transformed into a temple of music under the Sharad Purnima – the brightest full moon of the year. This is place to be if you want to hear the intoxicating music of the Manganiyar and the Langa – hereditary Rajasthani folk musicians – alongside folk and classical musicians from throughout India, and international guests too. For their efforts in promoting the traditional music of Rajasthan, the Jodhpur RIFF has been recognised by UNESCO as ‘a people's platform for creativity and sustainable development. ’



October 11-19 2019
Celtic Colours International Festival
Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada
www.celtic-colours.com
Colourful trees, colourful Celts
The Celtic culture has played a huge role in the life of Nova Scotia since its settlement by European colonisers, and it’s still home to the biggest number of Scottish Gaelic speakers outside of Scotland. It’s also home to the Celtic Colours International Festival, which hosts about 50 concerts all over Cape Breton Island. The line-up will be announced in June, but expect artists from across the Celtic world and the local First Nations and Métis communities performing among the stunning autumnal surroundings.

October 29 - November 3 2019
Oslo World
Oslo, Norway
www.osloworld.no/en
Music and much more
Oslo World dropped the word ‘music’ from their name a couple of years ago, highlighting their increasing focus on programme elements such as design, architecture, theatre, seminars and film – but that doesn’t mean that music is any less integral to the party. Fatoumata Diawara, Ibeyi and Gaye Su Akyol all graced the Oslo stages last year, and a similarly eclectic line-up will no doubt make its way to the Norwegian capital again this year.

November 7-10 2019
Le Guess Who?
Utrecht, The Netherlands
www.leguesswho.nl
A who’s-who of jazz and world
Set across the medieval city of Utrecht, Le Guess Who? festival takes over orthodox and unorthodox venues including museums, churches and factories – perfect for orthodox and unorthodox performances from (mostly) jazz and jazz-adjacent musicians from across the globe. With star curators from across the arts, there will always be an unexpected gem or ten. The 2018 edition presented world offerings from Anoushka Shankar, Yonatan Gat & the Eastern Medicine Singers and the Meridian Brothers alongside jazz names such as Hailu Mergia, the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Sons of Kemet.

November 21-30 2019
Jerusalem International Oud Festival
Jerusalem, Israel
www.confederationhouse.org
Oud and above
If you love the sound of the Arabic fretless lute, the oud, then this festival is surely a must for you – it is a celebration of the instrument wherever it occurs in the world, and it holds a special place in the musical history of Jerusalem. The oud isn’t all that’s on offer at this festival, though: last year’s festival featured performances of Indian and Azeri classical music, Spanish flamenco and Greek folk alongside traditions from across the Arab and Jewish worlds.

December 12-15 2019
NoBorder
Brest, Brittany, France
www.festivalnoborder.com
A festival of free movement
The NoBorder festival challenges the perceptions of popular music of the world and its place among traditional styles, with a programme that juxtaposes worldwide music from across that spectrum over six days of concerts in the Quartz concert centre and DJs through the night across the city of Brest. As well as all the live music, NoBorder also do their bit to keep recoded music alive: there is a special presentation by Brest’s famous Bad Seeds independent record shop.

December 27 2019 - January 1 2020
Woodford Folk Festival
Queensland, Australia
www.woodfordfolkfestival.com
See in the new year with 2020 vision
Why would you welcome in the new year – and new decade – anywhere other than at a world music festival? The Woodford Folk Festival is held in a world ever-so-slightly parallel to our own in a land called Woodfordia, an old dairy farm that has been transformed into an idyllic forest and a haven for wildlife and artists alike. The programme is built in a way to allow guests to map their own adventure through music, poetry, dance, storytelling and physical art from across the world before the culmination of a fire ceremony on New Year’s Day.

January 31 - February 2 & 5-7 2020
Sur Jahan
Kolkata & Goa, India
www.banglanatak.com
A tale of two cities
Sur Jahan is the ‘world peace music festival,’ aiming to promote pluralism and poverty alleviation through music. This festival spans a subcontinent: it’s held across two weekends in two different cities on either sides of India – first Kolkata, then Goa – to spread its message far and wide. The programme includes musicians of many cultures from across India as well as six international artists (confirmed names for 2020 include Ale Möller from Sweden and Ibuyambo from South Africa), but the biggest highlight has to be the grand finale, where members from each performing group take to the stage together.

February 2020, dates tbc
Festival on the Niger
Ségou, Mali
www.festivalsegou.org
Mali brings it on home
Music, just like the waters of the Niger River itself, is the lifeblood of Mali, and so the meeting of the two is the most natural thing in the world. Since 2005, the Festival on the Niger has gathered Malian artists with local and international followings and top names from the surrounding countries and across the continent: previous line-ups have featured world-beaters Salif Keita and Oumou Sangaré as well as the stars of Mali today such as Sidiki Diabaté and Master Soumi. Alongside the music are films, arts and traditional markets that provide a unique experience all their own.

February 2020, dates tbc
Udaipur World Music Festival
Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
www.udaipurworldmusicfestival.com
Wonders of Rajasthan
The Udaipur World Music Festival shows of the great variety of music from across India, as well as introducing some world-renowned international artists, many of whom are performing in India for the very first time… and what a place to make your debut. Udaipur is one of India’s most romantic cities, and the festival’s venues take in everything from an island garden on the tranquil Lake Pichola to the Gandhi Ground sports stadium with a capacity of tens of thousands, allowing for all manner of emotional responses. Artists in previous years have included Kailash Kher, Flavia Coelhofindia and Txarango.

February 13-16 2020
Sauti za Busara
Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania
www.busaramusic.org
The wise sounds of Stone Town
Zanzibar has witnessed many cultural influences in its history, from East Africa, Arabia, South Asia and Europe, all of which can be seen in the art and architecture of the capital city, Stone Town. Sauti za Busara is held right in the middle of all that history, in venues across the old town and with the main stage sited in the magnificent Old Fort. With the aim to showcase the diverse cultures of the continent, the line-up is exclusively made up of African and Afro-diasporic artists, with half the programme dedicated to Zanzibari and Tanzanian professional and community musical groups.

February 14-16, 2020
GroundUP Music Festival
Miami Beach, Florida, US
www.groundupmusicfestival.com
All that jazz
The GroundUP Music Festival is the passion project of Snarky Puppy, the world-shaking collective that helped bring jazz back into the mainstream. With fewer than 2,000 tickets available, the festival creates an intimate setting to hear forerunners and innovators of jazz, soul, funk and world music. 2019’s artists included Susana Baca, Innov Gnawa and the New York Gypsy All-Stars, as well as Snarky Puppy playing their usual three sets throughout the event, each with a different line-up and myriad guest musicians.

Feburary 14-16, 2020
Rupununi Music & Arts Festival
Manari, Guyana
www.rupununifestival.com
Amazing Amazonian arts
If camping in the grasslands at the very edge of the Amazon basin, just miles from the Brazilian border doesn’t sound tempting enough, how about a festival of beautiful music, indigenous arts and delicious food at the same time? The focus of the Rupununi Festival is to work in harmony with the wonderful nature around it, and its eco-friendly ethos is complemented by the festival’s chilled-out atmosphere. The musical line-up hosts the best of Guyanese and Brazilian music, as well as hosting traditional music and arts from local Amerindian artists.

March 26 - April 11 2020
Savannah Music Festival
Savannah, Georgia, USA
www.savannahmusicfestival.org
Springtime in Savannah
For over 30 years, the Savannah Music Festival has presented one of the most all-embracing programmes anywhere. There are pop and traditional artists from every continent, and there’s always sure to have a good showing of blues, jazz and classical music on offer too. Over 17 days, 500 artists will perform across the city of Savannah, making the festival the largest musical event in the state of Georgia. The fantastic array of concerts in 2019 included Anda Union, Maceo Parker, a double header of Fatoumata Diawara and Noura Mint Seymali and a performance by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.


Photos from top: Okarina, by Ervin Crnovic; Rainforest World Music Festival; Riddu Riđđu, by Eirin Roseneng; Sauti za Busara, by Markus Meissl.