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Post by mikey on Jul 31, 2017 18:30:46 GMT
Water from thE taps was fine, after it had run through the pipes. If you used one of the water points on Thursday it was just vile.
Frank water allowed water containers to be reused, even the ones you brought yourself by buying a wrist band for refills or a frank water bottle from other festivals.
Womad water, in conjunction with oxfam was selling bottled water. BOTTLED WATER!!! How is that environmentally friendly? Seemed to be a choice of bottled water or filtered tap water, as if the water on tap was not so good. Seeing bottled waters on sale, made the decision to avoid Womad water and use the water points instead.
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Post by mikey on Jul 31, 2017 18:33:52 GMT
I stayed up late (for once) so saw Viguela and Raquel Tavaras. Good gigs. Ms Tavaras thought she was playing London and dressed very casually sporting a I love Manchester sweater. She did a couple of wonderful covers of Hallelujah and Amy Winehouses Back to Black Really regret not staying up to see Raquel Tavares now. |
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Post by deserttraveller on Jul 31, 2017 18:45:28 GMT
I too missed the dahl curry at Manic Organic and Frankwater. They couldn't understand why Jamboyoti didnt want to be sold another plastic bottle when she had a perfectly good Frankwater one. The quietness in the world of wellbeing was missed, parts of it remind me of The fringe.
What I missed the most was sleep on the first night due to very inconsiderate neighbours. That meant I missed bands cause I was just too tired to go the arena/ cross the site etc.
We missed the rain by being at the front for the awesome ACSS performance and then back to 'camp womad' for cosy tales of bands, Dels lights, and hot Womads and port. Lovely company.
Rachel almost missed her train cause my car got stuck in the mud, it was a photo finish between very muddy car and a shiney GWR train.
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Post by sc on Jul 31, 2017 18:57:14 GMT
Actually what I missed most was Frank Water. WOMAD water was awful. Bringing our frank water bottles and filling from the water points next year. I also missed Manic Organic - always had their fruit, muesli and yoghurt for breakfast and their lemon and elderflower drink was lovely. Did anyone see them? Hips is ok thanks - just arthritis but if I twist it I am in agony and I couldn't risk too much walking round in the mud, just in case Blimey, what was the matter with Womad Water? It tasted like errm, well water to me. Would be interesting to know the rationale for the switch though. Anyway, unnecessarily negative post number 2! - it was such a good Womad, I am determined to stamp out all such negative thoughts:) You can call me a happy clapper... We thought the Womad Water was fine, we bought the inflatable clear plastic bottle type. It worked fine, the first bottle full tasted a bit "plasticy" but on re-fill it was fine. The refilling worked well, once we figured out that we needed to put the white sticker against the re-filling machine. One thing that did impact on me was that when we re-filled the water for the first time, there was a group of children probably aged about 7 or 8 years old trying to re-fill their own water bottles with water. Of course it wouldn't work for them (no white sticker), so I filled my bottle, to fill their bottles, who would refuse a child water because they have not paid? But it did strike me that something was very wrong with the system Womad is using re Water as in "Sorry only people who have paid are entitled to good water...... go away small child and look for a tap over a pool of mud ....... that is where the likes of you should drink...." |
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Post by olirow on Jul 31, 2017 19:16:06 GMT
Ok, shoot me if you like, I did only drink the bottled Womad water, and that was fine. There was so much water around, it didn't seem necessary to actually drink some until Sunday when my body told me that was probably a good idea, and by then spending £6 on a bottle seemed a bit excessive. To DorsetSteve, Google was my friend for HDPE but even it couldn't manage RFID?... To SC, the idea of free good quality chilled water for everyone is great, but would lose the charitable aspect, maybe a small specific increase to the ticket price could cover that, I hope Womad give this serious consideration.
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Post by deserttraveller on Jul 31, 2017 19:38:27 GMT
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Post by dorsethelen on Jul 31, 2017 19:46:47 GMT
Sorry I don't think my post was unnecessarily negative. The cheap white plastic WOMAD water bottles gave the water a strange taste after a while. They would not let us use our old frank water bottles but made us buy new ones - but we later saw frank water bottles with a WOMAD sticker on them. The WOMAD water volunteers overfilled every bottle making them leak. They insisted on putting the tops on themselves with their bare hands whereas frank water made you put your own bottle tops on - far more hygienic. The WOMAD water points did not work - we saw a couple of people using the one by the spa but the one by the big wheel was covered in mud and was either empty or our stickers weren't working, either way, no water was forthcoming . We wondered about the hygiene aspects too - you put the germy top from your bottle on the top of the water dispenser thing covered in germs from the tops of other people's bottles. There were no mobile carts and as far as I could see nowhere to obtain water in the arboretum. The strange suction top pinched your mouth. I don't think saying that I missed frank water was unnecessarily negative, it was truthful - the water did not work for us.
What was unnecessarily negative about asking if my favourite food stall was there? Yes, I did miss it but it is not negative to say so and ask if anyone has found it in case I missed it.
This is a thread about what you missed at WOMAD. Are we supposed to say everything was wonderful even the things that we didn't think were quite right? It was a brilliant WOMAD, the music was probably the best we have had and I have posted twice on the WOMAD Facebook page saying this - but the WOMAD water was a new thing and it didn't work. Manic Organic have been there all the years we have been going and it was a shame not to see them there. That's all.
DesertTraveller - we tried Meadow Park & Camp this year and it was wonderfully peaceful and quiet - all night noise last year made us seek a quieter location! It's a longish walk to the arena but we didn't return to our tents during the day and if anyone is looking for a peaceful place to camp and doesn't mind a longer walk, then Meadow Park & Camp is great.
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Post by olirow on Jul 31, 2017 20:08:20 GMT
Thanks for the more detailed post Helen, I just get very frustrated when people make throw away remarks such as "Womad water was awful' without any further explanation, just after an absolutely fantastic festival. It seems that too many people look for the negative first. I am sure Womad will learn from the more detailed feedback (assuming they read this forum). I didn't say anything about your thoughts on Manic Organic and the thread was about clashes until you chose to interpret it in a different way.
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Post by deserttraveller on Jul 31, 2017 21:32:59 GMT
Water from thE taps was fine, after it had run through the pipes. If you used one of the water points on Thursday it was just vile. Frank water allowed water containers to be reused, even the ones you brought yourself by buying a wrist band for refills or a frank water bottle from other festivals. Womad water, in conjunction with oxfam was selling bottled water. BOTTLED WATER!!! How is that environmentally friendly? Seemed to be a choice of bottled water or filtered tap water, as if the water on tap was not so good. Seeing bottled waters on sale, made the decision to avoid Womad water and use the water points instead. Normally the Womad piped supply is excellent with good pressure. Before the Womad private supply can be used it has to be tested 24 hours before use, I suspect that it failed due to some dirt in the pipes during build and so they flushed it & shock dosed it with chlorine to clear it, hence the vile taste on Thursday. For the same reasons as you I decided not to use Womad water. |
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Post by olirow on Jul 31, 2017 22:43:56 GMT
You make it sound a bit like someone has died! The historical association with Womad is interesting and it does feel like there is more to it, perhaps with the steam fair company too, not that we are ever likely to find out the real story. Could you find a link to their accounts on the website? |
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Post by sc on Aug 1, 2017 8:12:53 GMT
You make it sound a bit like someone has died! The historical association with Womad is interesting and it does feel like there is more to it, perhaps with the steam fair company too, not that we are ever likely to find out the real story. Could you find a link to their accounts on the website? I do wonder if it is a commercial decision, WOMAD will have to tread a careful balance between "Commerce" and "Ethics" and perhaps the balance isn't always comfortable. Other examples were: 1) Why would you allow a "Glitter" stall on site? Possibly the glitter was biodegradable, I don't know, but glitter is a dreadful plastic pollutant that usually gets flushed into rivers and seas and food chains- awful thing to have at a festival, sending the message that this is acceptable. 2) Apparently, some of the SPA products contained plastic micro beads - WHAT? WOMAD? You sure? 3) and I could not find "Loud As You Like" stall, shame I liked the owner and liked buying a shirt from him each year  Hopefully he has gone on to better things Overall as I have said else where the best musical lineup in years PLUS The Big Red Tent and the Bowers and Wilkins Sound System definitely were the best stages this year Fan-Bloody-Tastic WOMAD this year More of the same And as I didn't go to WOMAD last year this was my first year of the new lay out. It is so much better Less straight lines and Charlie Gillet has it's own space Perfect |
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Post by armsnlegseverywhere on Aug 1, 2017 8:18:12 GMT
I missed FRank too, and was not impressed with Womad for what they did as replacement - 1. Bottles, grrrrr 2. Not very many water pipes 3. Not MARKING all of the water points! No point in providing a water tap if you don't tell folks where it is.
I also missed LOO ROLL in many of the arena loos! Last year when I came home, I still had the loo roll in my pocket that I had put there before leaving the tent on Thursday. I remember because it went through the blumin' washing machine...on the up side, this year I only have to wash things once ;-)
What I missed most from a non-musical point of view though, was the arboretum. The trees are still there, but it was otherwise unrecognisable. I missed having some quiet space to chill out/collect thoughts/do some colouring-in in peace...there was none...anywhere, it seemed! I find crowds stressful and really missed being able to take a break from the bustle.
Also, I struggled to find room for dancing! Usually I gravitate to the sweet spot at the edge of the middle - good sound quality, people around me listening not talking, but not standing jam-packed like sardines. I think the only gig I found enough room for limb-flailing was Ariwo on Sunday evening. Ecotricity is a magic stage when not too crowded ;-)
Having said that, open air and Charlie G stages had good sound further back, and room; problem was people that were there for a picnic with some background music, rather than to actually experience the wonders in fornt of them...
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Post by grey on Aug 2, 2017 7:42:29 GMT
Missed out on Tanzania Albinism Collective which was a must see but too much of a slog across the park after seeing Toko Telo . D'Gary's guitar was wonderful. Missed out on Eliza Carthy and Kate Simko in the biggest program clash of the weekend and opted for IFE who were WONDERFUL!!!! Missed out on the Mamadou Diabate workshop opting for Clap Clap = mistake. Saw Beating Heart when I should have been at Las Cafetera who were lovely on the Cerys Sunday morning show. Didn't see any Taste The World after enjoying those shows so much last year. Missed out on a last visit to the Goodies From Gambia stall as Andrew closed early on Sunday night. www.goodiesfromthegambia.co.ukOK far to much negative comments from me but lets say this years womad wasn't a classic for me. |
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Post by Zenrider on Aug 2, 2017 17:57:21 GMT
From what I know of events with trade fairs at annual events, contracts change with vendors and such. Probably not going out on a limb thinking some of that which was missed, was not always there. As for decision, possibly made for money reason, but not necessarily just WOMAD. Perhaps the Steam Fair thought it might do better elsewhere? Since the core of WOMAD is about music and dance, until they stop having the varied and largely quality acts that they have, that is the what should be the most important.
As for water, much as WOMAD needs to make money, water should always be available as needed, when needed, and profit from water, even for charity, should not override the human need for it. Now beer, coffee, fruit drinks, lemonade and such, well, that is where the money is supposed to be made. Perhaps a charity beer mug sold for discount beer refills would be better?
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Post by sc on Aug 2, 2017 18:23:19 GMT
From what I know of events with trade fairs at annual events, contracts change with vendors and such. Probably not going out on a limb thinking some of that which was missed, was not always there. As for decision, possibly made for money reason, but not necessarily just WOMAD. Perhaps the Steam Fair thought it might do better elsewhere? Since the core of WOMAD is about music and dance, until they stop having the varied and largely quality acts that they have, that is the what should be the most important. As for water, much as WOMAD needs to make money, water should always be available as needed, when needed, and profit from water, even for charity, should not override the human need for it. Now beer, coffee, fruit drinks, lemonade and such, well, that is where the money is supposed to be made. Perhaps a charity beer mug sold for discount beer refills would be better? Agreed, Good Water, like Shelter, Justice, Health and Education are all basic human rights and should not be sold to only those that can afford it. |
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Hopefully he has gone on to better things 
