Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage hosted the WOMAD festival from the 23rd - 25th April this year.
And I tell you what a FESTIVAL it was!
It was flawlessly organised, the stage, the sound system, the venue (Corniche-on the beach),and they even provided port-a-loos.
A lot of hard work and organisation has undoubtedly gone into the preparations to ensure it was a really really fun 3 evenings for people of all nationalities and walks of life.
And just when you thought it couldn't get better, the weather for April was sublime. The breeze blew off the sea, and kept everyone cool. Fantastic to see so many people there. Single, with friends, families , listening to music, dancing to music or just soaking it up and chilling out on the beach. There was food to taste, and workshops for the kids.
It was hard to believe it was AbuDhabi, and for three days my heart and soul feasted on music.
They opened and closed the festival with much fanfare, and we were treated to Fireworks everyday.
I listened to Rizwan-Moazzam (nephew to the great Sufi Qawaal Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan), Youssou N'Dour and was transported to heaven.
The Dhol Foundation, Trilok Gurtu and Los De Abaja , and so many more.
And you know WHAT?
It was FREE!!
THANK YOU ABUDHABI.
And I tell you what a FESTIVAL it was!
It was flawlessly organised, the stage, the sound system, the venue (Corniche-on the beach),and they even provided port-a-loos.
A lot of hard work and organisation has undoubtedly gone into the preparations to ensure it was a really really fun 3 evenings for people of all nationalities and walks of life.
And just when you thought it couldn't get better, the weather for April was sublime. The breeze blew off the sea, and kept everyone cool. Fantastic to see so many people there. Single, with friends, families , listening to music, dancing to music or just soaking it up and chilling out on the beach. There was food to taste, and workshops for the kids.
It was hard to believe it was AbuDhabi, and for three days my heart and soul feasted on music.
They opened and closed the festival with much fanfare, and we were treated to Fireworks everyday.
I listened to Rizwan-Moazzam (nephew to the great Sufi Qawaal Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan), Youssou N'Dour and was transported to heaven.
The Dhol Foundation, Trilok Gurtu and Los De Abaja , and so many more.
And you know WHAT?
It was FREE!!
THANK YOU ABUDHABI.
Posts
18 comments:
I was there on the second day to watch Dhol Foundation, my wife and I enjoyed it very much and glad we made the effort to fight thru the crowd to see them! It was fantastic, love the fireworks too!
Good work ABDB municipality!
Thanks for posting, Kaya. While it sounds as if I missed something fantastic, I will surely look out for the next one!
Thank you Abu Dhabi :)
hey kaya! i was down thrs night to see moazzam ali khan! (too bad people didnt know better than to sit and enjoy the qawwalis.
moazzam was nowhere close to his uncle, but brought the house down nonetheless :) NFAK rocked.
that said, i concur, the arrangements were amazing. too bad i missed the dhol foundation.
Hi hemlock.
Too true. Nothing compared to NFAK! But then Nusrat had divine intervention. There is no way on earth that he sang that way without it.
At least Moazzam is making an effort to stay on track unlike the other bewakoof who sings trashy soppy filmi songs. That Rahat has sold himself out.
The DHOL foundation was truly Punjabi flava, like their music and onstage charisma. It took a lot of self restraint not to do a bhangra there.:D
Absolutely THANK YOU Abu Dhabi!! I was diown there Friday and it was a brilliant line up from the Dhol Foundation all the way through to Youssou N' Dour! Great atmosphere and so nice just to wander around from stage to stage grinning! Didn't get back to Sharjah until 4.00am and had to work on Saturday but it was more than worth it!
Hi sidestreaker
Thats why I got there by 6 and glued myself to the rails. And all the attempts at trying to derail me where met with failure.
Aloo pArathas zindabad.
Weren't the Dhol Foundation so cute though, esp the one in the corner who's name should be HAPPY SINGH!!
And the two white boys, the one on the extreme right looked like he had stepped out of a Housemartins vid. LOL
Hey anonymous
You sure did. I hope they do it again next year. I for one will pitch a tent on the beach!
:D
@ Gaia
:D
and please may we have some more SIR!
Its freaky how the weekend seemed to be the last day of pleasent weather.
My god! Today is a real scorcher.
@ Nature Strikes Back
I salute you my dear girl. To come all the way from Sharjah requires a special kind of person.
But yeh I know what you mean by walking around grinning. For music lovers it was like a buffet table loaded with yummy treats.
good to read from you KAYA!
i love how here they subsidise people to be cultured :)
love it!
Yo buj!
long time. No the cultured ones go to the malls! hahahaha! Because people here think they aren't cultured till they have the fugly LV bag, the BVLGARI bling and the Dior foundation caking their faces.
Us proletarians like a bit of dum mustt qalandar mustt mustt. Down to earth food and down to earth music.
Is this why the roads were full of cars and people around Marina Mall?
God I hate gatherings like these... but always tend to be near them.
ABIT: You were in the vicinity.
That makes me scared....very scared.
LOL
The organisers of WOMAD Abu Dhabi are the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, in collaboration with WOMAD UK, not the Municipality. Check out www.womadabudhabi.ae for info on how it all came about...
Yes yes Music fan. I know I saw it later on the booklet.
HEY! But it was awesome and it was FREE!!
guys, you said there were portaloos..
you said AD municipality organised it.
it's staring at you in the face
UFF!!
Not guys . Only me.
But there were port a loos. Honest Buj.
They handed you a small disposable shovel and the beach was your potty. hahahhaha
Nonsense. It was fabulously organised, and other than the Cultural foundation snafu (BY ME)which I saw later bt didnt think it was SUCH a big deal that I needed to correct it.
Uff! heads to edit button.
THANKYOU MUSIC FAN I made the correction.
Post a Comment
NOTE: By making a post/comment on this blog you agree that you are solely responsible for its content and that you are up to date on the laws of the country you are posting from and that your post/comment abides by them.
To read the rules click here
If you would like to post content on this blog click here