Celebrating the 20th anniversary of WOMAD NZ

WOMAD New Zealand has announced its return for March 17-19,  2023.  Celebrating its 20th anniversary of the festival at the award-winning Bowl of Brooklands and Brooklands Park in New Plymouth. WOMAD NZ will welcome back performers from around the world and across Aotearoa. Last tickets go on sale Tuesday, 19th July from womad.co.nz

Over its 20 years in Taranaki, WOMAD NZ has presented over 500 acts and 1500 performers from 95 countries. WOMAD was first presented in Taranaki in 2003, and in its tenure, the festival has had 150,000 visitors through its gates and generated over 100 million dollars for the local economy.

Venture Taranaki Chief Executive Kelvin Wright comments, “WOMAD is part of the long-standing cultural fabric in Taranaki, bringing all corners of the world to the iconic Brooklands Park over three days. While delivering significantly to the vibrancy of our region, it is also a major attractor of visitation, contributing economically, and engendering a positive regional profile through positioning Taranaki as a lively and dynamic region.” 

Over a million people from all walks of life have been part of the WOMAD NZ journey since it began. One of the planet’s longest-running and best-established cultural festivals returns to Taranaki for three incredible days of music, arts, and dance.  2023 will be back to full capacity with eight stages and an eclectic and cross-cultural lineup with talented musicians, artists, and inspiring speakers from around the globe set to educate, inspire and entertain.

After honouring the WOMAD 2022 tickets that rolled over to WOMAD 2023, all pre-sale and Early Bird tickets have sold out. The remaining general admission tickets to the 2023 three-day festival are on sale today, Tuesday, 19th July from womad.co.nz.  This year, WOMAD has teamed up with PayPlan making it easy for festival-goers to book tickets now, pay in regular, easy payments, and be dancing under the mighty Taranaki Mounga in March 2023. Camping and glamping options will be available as usual also.

New Plymouth District Mayor, Neil Holdom is excited to welcome WOMAD home for 2023. “WOMAD in our stunning Pukekura Park at the Bowl of Brooklands every March is on every festival lover’s must-do list and has almost become as much of a Taranaki icon as our Mounga or surf beaches. We are delighted to have it back after a two-year Covid hiatus. It is also great for our local economy, attracting around 11,000 visitors and pumping around six million into the regional economy annually, which will be welcomed by local businesses after a couple of tough years where many of our big events have had to be cancelled.” 

Glen Bennett, Labour MP for New Plymouth, adds, “WOMAD is our most loved, most diverse, inter-generational festival, which showcases not only culture and the arts, but Taranaki as a region. I love the vibrancy, creativity and of course the smells and tastes that WOMAD brings us.”

“Honestly this was the most wholesome live music experience of my year. I went to WOMAD to celebrate the wedding of my best mates. The whole whānau from across the whenua was there, and as the stars came out over Ngāmotu we took off our shoes and danced under trees glowing above the stage lights”. – Undertheradar, 2020

“WOMAD is a multicultural, all-ages celebration of the unifying forces of music and dance. The festival celebrates our differences and the ways in which we are all the same, and there is no other place I’d want to be right now.” – Radio NZ National, 2019

“People chatted under shade, tucked into a dizzying array of food, danced in nooks and crannies, or took in spoken word performances on a stage surrounded by trees. Smiles seemed to be mandatory.”  – New Zealand Herald, 2018

“The place reverberated under the mighty watch of Mount Taranaki with the kind of passion that only comes from the sheer celebration of diversity… Most acts put on repeat performances over the weekend allowing you the chance to customise an itinerary that would rival an around-the-world music trip.” – The Spinoff, 2018

“There aren’t too many places you can sit on the grass and watch international music while surrounded by trees, birds, and water.”  – stuff.co.nz, 2018 

“WOMAD is a place of discovery and it’s a place where music and ethnicity have no borders or prejudice.” Radio NZ National, 2018 

“It enriches us on so many different levels, from the sharing of music, the creativity in the Taste the World and workshops, and exposure to cultures that are very different to our own.” Taranaki Daily News, 2018 

“an amazing aural smorgasbord”. – Radio NZ National, 2017

“The sun shone on schedule for a weekend of music, dance, and colourful experiences at New Plymouth’s Bowl of Brooklands… Once again Womad has demonstrated its ability to raise the bar, as there were many other acts of an impossibly high standard.” – New Zealand Herald, 2016 

“The music started at 12pm, but the place was humming long before then. Many people had an early lunch, checked out the stalls and sussed out the perfect spot to settle in. By 12pm there was standing room only” – Taranaki Daily News, 2015 

“It’s almost daunting to think that this was just the start of the festival. If the rest is this going to be good (and it will be), then we are in for some fantastic music”. – 13th Floor 2013