Taranaki welcomes 10 more years of Womad festival
Thursday, 18 October 2018
The decision to keep the Womad world music festival in Taranaki for at least the next ten years has been welcomed in the province and will pump millions into its economy, figures show.
The three-day World of Music and Dance extravaganza has taken place in New Plymouth's Brooklands Park every summer since 2003 and has generated $125.9 million over that time, event organisers said, an average of $9 million a year.
On Wednesday night details of the 15th festival, which will take place in March 2019, were announced at an event in Wellington attended by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Womad International director Mike Large told those assembled in the Parliament Buildings' Grand Hall that Womad would remain in Taranaki for at least ten more years, until 2029.
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Previously the festival had been reviewed for renewal every three years, but the next review won't be until 2025.
In 2011 a major sponsorship deal with the TSB Bank and Shell and Todd Energy staved off the threat of Taranaki sharing the event with Nelson on alternate years.
Suzanne Porter, chief executive of Taranaki Arts Festival Trust (TAFT), which runs Womad, said the renewal gave them securityp.
'It makes it very safe and we can do a lot of long term planning around it.
'It's great news for the region. We need a good news story at the moment and I think events and festivals are a way that regions can position themselves differently and Womad is definitely one of those offerings.
'It brings people in that would possibly not come to the region and showcases the best of the region.'
Next year's event, running from March 15-17, will feature Kiwi bands Kora and The Black Seeds as well as diverse global acts such as Cuban-born La Dame Blanche and Beligum rapper Baloji.
Porter expected the amount Womad contributes to Taranaki's economy to continue to grow.
'It will be higher than the last ten.
'It's dependent on the number of people coming in and the percentage of people attending being from out of region.'
Porter said some years 70 per cent of Womad attendees were from out of town.
She also said locals tended to attend every second year, 'and of course they spend less because they're at home'.
Mark Dickie, chairman of The Most FM, media partners for Womad, said securing the event for the next decade was huge.
'There was always that worry that it was going to leave our province but now that it's secured, we don't have to rest on our laurels, but we just need to kepe promoting it and it becoming bigger.
'The hard work that TAFT have done allows us as The Most FM to promote the world music and get involved in that. It's an absolute positive.'
Taranaki Chamber of Commerce chief executive Arun Chaudhari said it was 'incredibly fabulous news', especially after the Labour government's announcement it was ending off-shore oil and gas exploration, which is the region's largest economic provider.
'A a time of economic uncertainty this bolsters some business confidence and also cements Taranaki as a Mecca for culture, events and music - all connected with the diverse, international flavour that Womad brings to the region,' he said.
Singer Peter Gabriel co-founded the festival in 1980 for 'audiences to gain an insight into cultures other than their own through the enjoyment of music'.
Womad has held more than 160 festivals and had events in twenty-seven countries and islands all over the world.