WOMADelaide today announced a further 40 extraordinary artists for its 30-year celebration to be held 11-14 March in Adelaide’s Botanic Park, including festival favourites The Cat Empire, the debut of Kiwi powerhouse L.A.B., hip-hop heavyweights A.B. Original and oud virtuoso Joseph Tawadros with a 52-piece Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
The Cat Empire joined the WOMADelaide family in 2003 when they played WoZone, the festival’s late-night club. Next year’s show will be their final SA show with the original line-up, accompanied by dancers and special guests.
Winners of the 2020 Best Roots Artist at the Aotearoa Music Awards, five-piece L.A.B have become a phenomenon over the past few years, selling out 10,000 capacity stadiums in New Zealand with their weighty mix of reggae, electronic, blues, funk and rock.
The multi award winning hip-hop outfit A.B. Original will be playing their first show since 2020. The group have been in the studio writing and recording for their highly anticipated sophomore album and are pumped to be back on the WOMAD stage for the first time in many years.
Cairo-born ARIA-Award winning composer and oud master Joseph Tawadros AM will perform his grand, cinematic Concerto for Oud & Orchestra and four other works with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, with his brother James Tawadros on Arabic percussion, on the opening night of the festival.
A small but stellar international contingent will also perform at WOMADelaide 2022, including Brazilian jazz legends Azymuth & Marcos Valle; Grammy nominated Mississippi blues artist Cedric Burnside and Grammy-winning Guatemala born, US based folk singer Gaby Moreno.
Also appearing will be Scottish trad-electronic band Elephant Sessions and New Zealand’s multi award-winning Troy Kingi, currently conquering his dream to release ten albums of ten different genres in ten years and multi-instrumentalist Tio from Vanuatu.
Joining them will be world-renowned composer-producer-DJ Floating Points (UK) and Grammy nominated environmentalist and house music DJ Jayda G, alongside NZ DJ AROHA.
WOMADelaide has joined forces with Music In Exile to present South Sudan’s ‘King of Music’ Gordon Koang, Ausecuma Beats and Chikchika and with Nexus Arts to present ZÖJ, Dhungala Baarka and Farhan Shah & Sufi-Oz. WOMADelaide x Northern Sound System Academy graduates Sokel, Sonz of Serpent with the Tervete Collective and Elsy Wameyo will also perform.
“Expanding our 30th anniversary line-up with the calibre of artists we are announcing today is hugely exciting,” said Ian Scobie, Director.
“The diversity of our 2022 line-up and celebrating predominantly Australian artists is exceptional, from Asteroid Ekosystem (Ed Kuepper, Lloyd Swanton & Alistair Spence), Australian hip hop royalty A.B. Original, Farhan Shah & Sufi-Oz and DJ Floating Points, exemplifies the mix of diversity and discovery our audiences have come to love and expect at WOMADelaide!”
Premier of South Australia, Steven Marshall welcomed the addition of over 40 more artists for the state’s iconic WOMADelaide festival.
“More artists set for Adelaide’s Botanic Park this March means even more reasons for South Australians and interstaters to get excited for this world-class festival,” said Premier Marshall.
“What a terrific celebration of 30 years for event organisers and festivalgoers, and for WOMADelaide’s return to seven stages in the parklands of Australia’s most liveable city.”
WOMADelaide is supported by the State Government through the South Australian Tourism Commission.
The complete list of artists announced today is:
- A.B. Original
- Adelaide Symphony Orchestra – Silence
- AROHA – DJ set
- Asteroid Ekosystem
- Ausecuma Beats
- Australian Art Orchestra – Hand to Earth
- Azymuth & Marcos Valle
- Bullhorn
- Bush Gothic
- Carla Lippis’ Mondo Psycho
- The Cat Empire – final SA show of the original line-up
- Cedric Burnside (USA)
- Chikchika
- Dhungala Baarka
- Elephant Sessions (Scotland)
- Elsy Wameyo
- The Empty Threats
- Farhan Shah & Sufi-Oz
- Floating Points (UK) – DJ set
- Gaby Moreno (USA)
- Glass Beams
- Gordon Koang
- Jayda G (CAN) – DJ set
- Jerome Farah
- Joseph Tawadros & James Tawadros (duo show)
- Joseph Tawadros with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
- Karen Lee Andrews
- L.A.B (NZ)
- Luluc
- Makepisi
- Sokel
- Sonz of Serpent
- Springtime
- Taikoz
- Te Tangi O Te Ka’ara
- Tijuana Cartel
- Tio (Vanuatu)
- Troy Kingi (NZ)
- Victor Martinez Parada
- Yé-Yé 2.0
- ZÖJ
- Artists announced on 11 Nov :
- Baker Boy
- Balkan Ethno Orchestra
- Barkaa
- Courtney Barnett
- The Crooked Fiddle Band
- Dancenorth – NOISE
- Eishan Ensemble
- El Gran Mono
- Electric Fields
- Emma Donovan & The Putbacks
- Goanna
- Grace Barbé
- Haiku Hands
- High Ace
- Inner City (Live) (USA)
- King Stingray
- Kutcha Edwards
- Martinez Akustica
- Melbourne Ska Orchestra
- Motez (Live)
- The New Monos
- Parvyn
- Paul Kelly
- Reb Fountain (NZ)
- Danse Carpe Diem/Emmanuel Jouthe, Maï(g)wenn et lesOrteils & Restless Dance Theatre – Écoute Pour Voir (Listen to See)
- The Shaolin Afronauts
- Sorong Samarai
- Valanga Khoza
- YID!