BARRY LEIGHTON looks ahead to some special treats at this year’s WOMAD festival

AROUND The World in 80 days? It could be done, reasoned Phileas Fogg, squabbling with his toff chums at The Reform Club one afternoon in 1872.

How about Around the World in 80 Hours? This, too, can be achieved – and you don’t need to be in a Jules Verne adventure novel, a hot air balloon, or even leave Wiltshire, for that matter, to do so.

Just head down the M4 from Swindon to Charlton Park near Malmesbury this evening – or even better, take the scenic route via Brinkworth. It’s about 35 minutes if you’re not planning on a pub stop.

The four-day WOMAD Festival – which begins at 7pm today – is a globe-trotting musical sojourn that will entertain, educate, enlighten and enthral anyone willing to push the boundaries of their musical horizons.

Dedicated world music aficionados aside, the chances are you won’t have heard of at least 90 per cent of the artistes taking part.

In all likelihood, a couple of days later you’ll come away with a bag full of CDs from bands whose names you can barely pronounce but who have knocked you sideways.

Some 30,000 fans will sleep under canvas – OK, with the occasional camper van thrown in – in the expansive back-yard of the Earl of Suffolk’s ancestral home.

Around 100 bands/artistes will perform at a string of stages at Wiltshire’s largest annual music event, which is also, in all probability, the biggest world music party... well, anywhere in the world.

Among this year’s big hitters are: folk-rock giant Richard Thompson, surely one of the planet’s most consistent singer/song-writers; Anglo-Indian composer Nitin Sawhney, a world music kingpin ever since his must-have Beyond Skin CD of 15 years ago; and Youssou N’Dour, who can lay a decent claim to being Africa’s greatest singer of the past two of three decades.

Cameroonian saxophonist Manu Dibango – 81 and still going strong – will be delving into the impressive reaches of his back catalogue in what he is calling his Eight Decades show.

Fat Freddy’s Drop, a seven-piece New Zealand band, will be mashing up elements of dub, soul and techno in what I am reliably informed will be a loud and boisterous manner.

Goran Bregovic’s Wedding & Funeral Orchestra will be mixing an age-old gypsy brass band tradition with a booming festival vibe.

Legendary soul man Bobby Womack, who was to have closed proceedings on the open air stage on Sunday night, sadly died a few weeks ago.

After frantically scrambling around for a replacement the shocked and saddened folk at WOMAD came up an artiste of almost equal stature... a singer whose angelic voice is often at odds with her controversial views on life and just about everything else, Ireland’s Sinéad O’Connor.

However, the fun is to get out there, wander around and discover some music you didn’t have a clue existed before…..

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

*WOMAD – World Of Music, Arts and Dance – held its first festival in 1982 at the Bath & West Showground in Shepton Mallet, Somerset.

Over the intervening 32 years, the Peter Gabriel-fronted organisation has hosted festivals across the globe, from Sicily to Seattle and Adelaide to Abu Dhabi.

This will be the eighth year on the trot that Charlton Park (SN16 9DG) has been home to WOMAD’s flagship UK festival.

HOW TO BOOK 

Further information and tickets prices are available at 0118-960-6060 or online at: www.womad.co.uk
The full line-up along with info on who plays what, when and on which stage can be found on the website.  Ticket prices are: 

  • Adult Weekend £160
  • Disabled Adult Weekend £160
  • Teenage Weekend £80 (14-17 years)
  • Children 13 and under FREE
  • Adult Day Ticket (Saturday/Sunday) £70
  • Adult Weekend + 1 year’s subscription to Songlines £184.75