WOMAD

Our big weekend. Travelled up to New Plymouth the weekend before WOMAD (World of Music and Dance) and caught up with caravanning friends. Stayed for 4 nights at a golf club on the beach for $5 a night. Moved to New Plymouth Racecourse on the Friday for start of concert. We stayed in our caravan in the middle of course along with 3,000 others mostly camping and motor homes.
Easy walking distance to venue where there were 3 main stages and some smaller ones. Heaps of food stalls with many ethnic foods available.
Check out this site http://womad.org/festivals/new-zealand/lineup/ to see who played over the 3 days. Friday started at 5.30 pm to midnight, Sat 12.30 pm to midnight and Sunday 12.30 to 11.30pm. mammoth effort. We returned to van from time to time for food and wine-and rest! Only a 10-15 min walk, trouble was it was uphill!! The main stage is in a natural amphitheatre with a native bush backdrop. Beautiful location and commented on by a number of the artists. We saw Cliff Richards there last year. The music was varied, a fusion of music from different cultures, generally with instruments from the culture along with electric guitars etc. More pop than folk which surprised me. Still a number of people dressed hippy style.
Very well organised event, has been going for about 8 years I think. Lots of teenagers there and families. Surprising as it was about $100 a day for tickets. As you can see from the pics weather was brilliant, although we needed jackets in the evenings.