Thebe Mabanga
The East Rand town of Benoni could lose the annual World of Music and Dance (Womad) festival if it fails to attract a large crowd.
This weekend Benoni will host Womad for the third year, and the event has been plagued with criticisms on issues like audience demographics, timing and choice of venue.
Womad is the brainchild of musician Peter Gabriel and is designed to cater for eclectic, progressive music tastes. It is now held in 22 countries including the United Kingdom, Spain, the United States, Singapore and Australia.
The Bluegum Creek Estate won a three-year contract to host the music extravanganza and renewal negotiations will only take place after the ticket sales are counted.
“To be honest, we have not crossed that bridge yet but we have been happy with the way things have gone in Benoni,” was all Roddy Quin, owner of festival promoter Real Concerts, would say about Womad’s future. “We have received offers from Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town to host the festival but have not made a decision yet.”
Real Concerts has research showing if a festival of this nature is held at a consistent venue, audiences tend to acclimatise and grow steadily.
Last year, the festival attracted 15000 revellers and a similar audience is expected this weekend. Quin believes that the festival’s audience capacity is around 25 000 and this can be achieved in two years.
Nicky Blumenfeld, a world music presenter with the Gauteng adult contemporary station Kaya fm, believes: “If the Living Treasures Festival [in Durban] can attract 50 000 people, there is no reason why Womad should be attracting less than 30 000.”
The Festival has been criticised for its poor timing. Last year, it clashed with the North Sea Jazz Festival in Cape Town. This year, it falls on the same weekend as the Arts Alive Festival in Johannesburg and the Woodstock Festival at the Heidelberg Kloof Fontein Estate, also outside Benoni.
Quin concedes that last year’s clash was unfortunate but says this year “there is no clash” because it attracts a unique audience. Woodstock focuses on contemporary, youth-orientated music and extreme sports.
There remains a widespread view that the concert is too white both in audience composition and artist selection. Quin says that the first Womad was “experimental” and although there was a heavy presence of top local artists, the audience was largely white. Last year, the audience was more racially mixed and Quin expects this to improve.
This year artists like the Cape Verde Islands diva Ceasaria Evora and Senegalese star Ismael L should attract more black people.
Albert Swanepoel, interim marketing manager of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Council was instrumental in bringing the concert to Benoni and is cautiously optimistic it will remain in the town.
“We believe that we have rekindled the rich musical heritage of the area that produced artists like Johnny Mekoa,” he says also noting how Womad has put Benoni and Ekurhuleni on the world cultural map.
The London based directors of Womad were en-route to South Africa and unavailable for comment.