Roadtrip: 40 more artists added to WOMADelaide lineup

WOMADelaide has added a whopping 40 more artists to its 2022 lineup, including The Cat Empire, L.A.B., A.B. Original and Joseph Tawadros.

WOMADelaide today announced a further 40 extraordinary artists for its 30-year celebration to be held 11-14 March in Adelaide’s Botanic Park, including a small but eclectic group of international artists alongside farewell favourites The Cat Empire, the debut of Kiwi powerhouse L.A.B., hip-hop heavyweights A.B. Original and Joseph Tawadros with a 52-piece Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

It marks the return of the festival to its spiritual homeland in the Botanic Park after a quick COVID-enforced sojourn to King Rodney, and it’s set to welcome back vaccinated crowds in their thousands for a huge lineup of music and arts.

What you need to know

WOMADelaide is set to light up the City of Churches from 11 – 14 March, 2022
Today, the beloved festival has announced a further 40 artists to its lineup
Their 2022 event will be WOMADelaide’s 30th anniversary

Keep up with the latest music news, festivals, interviews and reviews here.

The Cat Empire joined the WOMADelaide family in 2003 when they played WoZone, the festival’s late-night club. Next year’s show will be their final SA show with the original line-up, accompanied by dancers and special guests.

Winners of the 2020 Best Roots Artist at the Aotearoa Music Awards, five-piece L.A.B have become a phenomenon over the past few years, selling out 10,000 capacity stadiums in New Zealand with their weighty mix of reggae, electronic, blues, funk and rock.

The multi award winning hip-hop outfit A.B. Original will be playing their first show since 2020. The group have been in the studio writing and recording for their highly anticipated sophomore album and are pumped to be back on the WOMAD stage for the first time in many years

Cairo-born ARIA-Award winning composer and oud master Joseph Tawadros AM will perform his grand, cinematic Concerto for Oud & Orchestra and four other works with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, with his brother James Tawadros on Arabic percussion, on the opening night of the festival.

A small but stellar international contingent will also perform at WOMADelaide 2022, including Brazilian jazz legends Azymuth & Marcos Valle; Grammy nominated Mississippi blues artist Cedric Burnside and Grammy-winning Guatemala born, US based folk singer Gaby Moreno.

Also appearing will be Scottish trad-electronic band Elephant Sessions and New Zealand’s multi award-winning Troy Kingi. Meanwhile, currently conquering his dream to release ten albums of ten different genres in ten years, is multi-instrumentalist Tio from Vanuatu.

Joining them will be world-renowned composer-producer-DJ Floating Points (UK) and Grammy-nominated environmentalist and house music DJ Jayda G, alongside NZ DJ AROHA.

WOMADelaide has joined forces with Music In Exile to present South Sudan’s ‘King of Music’ Gordon Koang, Ausecuma Beats and Chikchika and with Nexus Arts to present ZÖJ, Dhungala Baarka and Farhan Shah & Sufi-Oz. WOMADelaide x Northern Sound System Academy graduates Sokel, Sonz of Serpent with the Tervete Collective and Elsy Wameyo will also perform.

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“Expanding our 30th anniversary line-up with the calibre of artists we are announcing today is hugely exciting,” said Ian Scobie, Director.

“The diversity of our 2022 line-up and celebrating predominantly Australian artists is exceptional, from Asteroid Ekosystem (Ed Kuepper, Lloyd Swanton & Alistair Spence), Australian hip hop royalty A.B. Original, Farhan Shah & Sufi-Oz and DJ Floating Points, exemplifies the mix of diversity and discovery our audiences have come to love and expect at WOMADelaide!”

Premier of South Australia, Steven Marshall welcomed the addition of over 40 more artists for the state’s iconic WOMADelaide festival.

“More artists set for Adelaide’s Botanic Park this March means even more reasons for South Australians and interstaters to get excited for this world-class festival,” said Premier Marshall. “What a terrific celebration of 30 years for event organisers and festivalgoers, and for WOMADelaide’s return to seven stages in the parklands of Australia’s most liveable city.”