From their email list, WOMAD festivals in 2004:
5-8 May
WOMAD Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain
(unconfirmed event)
1-3 July
WOMAD Taormina, Sicily
(confirmed event)23-25 July
WOMAD Festival, Rivermead, Reading, UK
(confirmed event)27-29 August
WOMAD Fort Canning Park, Singapore
(unconfirmed event)27 August
WOMAD - The Eden Session, The Eden Project, UK
(confirmed event)4-7 November 2004
WOMAD Canarias 2004, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
(unconfirmed event) ..Event information here was correct as of March 2004.
Dates and locations are subject to change.
And there was a list of performers for the Rivermead show:
Andrea Echeverry de Aterciopelados (Colombia), Ba Cissoko (Guinea), Dhol Foundation (UK), Drum Drum (Australia/Papua New Guinea), Fawzy Al-Aiedy (Iraq/France), Grand Orchestre Taarab de Zanzibar (Tanzania), Imbongi & Albert Nyathi (Zimbabwe), Jim Moray (UK), Jorma Kaukonen (USA), Kila (Ireland), Les Goulus (Fance), Liu Fang (China), Luciano (Jamaica), Michael Messer (UK), N'faly Kouyate & Dunyakan (Guinea), Nigel Kennedy & Kroke (UK/Poland), Rokia Traore (Mali), Señor Coconut (Germany/Denmark/Venezuela), Sharon Shannon (Ireland), Sidestepper (Colombia/UK), The Bays (UK), Tiger Moth (UK), Tinariwen (Mali), Yair Dalal (Israel), Yelemba D'Abidjan (Ivory Coast) - line-up is subject to change
But I'm sure we'll get something just as good here in the States. Only, you know, overpriced to hell, sponsored by some evil empire like Clear Channel, and featuring only radio-friendly, top 10 having bands from the US.
I mentioned the shitty mood, yes?
Well, it bears repeating.
there was some scandalous treatment of the festival organizers last time they were in seattle - they usually had it in marymoor park with a massive turnout, but i guess the people in the upper-crusty neighborhood surrounding the park were sick and tired of all those, like, dirty "diverse" types wandering around, and they were un-welcomed. i remember seeing something in the local daily about the flap, but i don't recall the details. generally, it sucks trying to put on live music festivals in this country, as there is a monopoly of a very small number of promoters in most major cities, and i can tell you from personal experience that the majority of them are controlled by the mob. pearl jam would probably have something interesting to say about that issue.
PS--the scuttlebutt is that, besides the marymoor park people and the neighbors having a cow, there were problems with INS getting the way they've been getting about many artists and luminaries from abroad coming here since -- you guessed it -- 9/11. and WOMAD included a lot of musicians who, you know, like, had the wrong last name, skin color, etc...........
I suppose the symbolic value of rejecting something called World Of Music And Dance is totally lost on these folks.
Actually, I hope it is, because the alternative is even worse.