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Post by jax2000 on Aug 5, 2018 21:41:39 GMT
Don't forget that we won't be bringing any cheese or port next year. 😕 You'll be bringing yourselves for the Sunday though!  We definitely will. 😊 Thursday is the best day for a late get together though, while everyone has enough energy to stay awake and there's less of a risk of missing some wonderful music. 😊 |
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Post by mikey on Aug 5, 2018 22:05:43 GMT
Regarding the ecotricity stage, agree that it is a difficult site, and a struggle to get into the crowd let alone find a good spot to see the stage and/or have a dance.
I also think the main stage ‘does down’ the headline acts, compared to the old location which had a natural slope down giving everyone a good chance of seeing the stage. The new stage is on the flat so must be difficult for many to see and interact with the performance unless you a4e right down the front. The solution could be a big screen showing the stage performers - how would that go down with everyone?
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Post by standing stone on Aug 6, 2018 6:21:00 GMT
Regarding the ecotricity stage, agree that it is a difficult site, and a struggle to get into the crowd let alone find a good spot to see the stage and/or have a dance. I also think the main stage ‘does down’ the headline acts, compared to the old location which had a natural slope down giving everyone a good chance of seeing the stage. The new stage is on the flat so must be difficult for many to see and interact with the performance unless you a4e right down the front. The solution could be a big screen showing the stage performers - how would that go down with everyone? I'm not really fond of the idea of big screens - might as well just find you tube clips to my mind - I like the directness of being able to see artists on the stage(s); just need the stage(s) elevated sufficiently so everyone can see..... that would be fab! |
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Post by mikey on Aug 6, 2018 6:31:58 GMT
Regarding the ecotricity stage, agree that it is a difficult site, and a struggle to get into the crowd let alone find a good spot to see the stage and/or have a dance. I also think the main stage ‘does down’ the headline acts, compared to the old location which had a natural slope down giving everyone a good chance of seeing the stage. The new stage is on the flat so must be difficult for many to see and interact with the performance unless you a4e right down the front. The solution could be a big screen showing the stage performers - how would that go down with everyone? I'm not really fond of the idea of big screens - might as well just find you tube clips to my mind - I like the directness of being able to see artists on the stage(s); just need the stage(s) elevated sufficiently so everyone can see..... that would be fab! I do agree on big screens, find yourself watching the screens rather than stage itself. Put it out there to discuss - should the stage be relocated, raised or big screens to give everyone a chance of a view |
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Post by hotdrummer on Aug 6, 2018 6:39:26 GMT
Oh I didn’t realise I’d generate such a response. I just thought that I’d not had many close encounters over the weekend. I suppose it all goes to prove that people who attend Womad are all lovely folk, just that we don’t know them. Just like refugees. There’s another can of worms.
Mostly the Womad water points had an ordinary tap next to them but some didn't. They were well used on hot Friday.
The old R3 stage in the arboretum was 2m high (6’ in old money) I remember Fatou’s debut there and Kanda Bongo Man. Although it sometimes got branded ‘radio tree stage’ as sightlines were sometimes obscured. I’m sure it had a bigger capacity tho 🤔
Anyway, time for a cuppa xx
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Post by mikey on Aug 6, 2018 15:49:07 GMT
The invevitable long queues for the toilets must be annoying for those needing a wee, when men could just walk past to the urinals.
This year a few women were brave enough to use the gents urinals I presume with ‘she wees’ and good on them that they were brave to do so. There was also a girl squatting by the side of a urinal block - not quite so sure what to think about that.
If Womad allocated a ladies urinal area, do you think they would gett well used? Be a lot less intimidating or embarrassing.
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Post by calndel on Aug 6, 2018 20:34:25 GMT
Eventbrite handling of the ticket sales was a bit of joke, it was nice to get an up grade from WOMAD but a hassle to have to walk to the purple gate to get it
Campsite was fine and we like the track from the red gate to manor road which stopped people making unofficial tracks through the tents, the red gate re entry lane was very narrow and easily blocked by people pulling trolleys.
water spots were in the same places but people setting up camps next to them made access difficult (not WOMADs fault)
The loos in the campsite were well looked after (although the young lads left look after them seemed to spend most of their time looking board and playing with their phones (can't blame them). Showers were good too and cleaner than last year (which may have been helped by the lack of mud)
Del made friends with a very friendly lady cockney security guard at the wristband check on the way into the arean (she seemed to be working 20 hour shifts which was not good) and all the security staff were very friendly although they didn't really see that interested in checking wrist bands
The arena layout is okay but there still seems to be some dead space at the edges of the sight and can the real ale tent be moved to a more central location! Oh and the golden lion pub was closed on Thursday!!!!!!!!!!!! Staff in the real ale pub were fab and some ended up covered in glitter. No porter!!!
the the food stalls were the usually suspects but due to the heat we didn't each that much, good quality but the prices are creeping up.
The line up good and we like most of what we heard (each to their own)
We liked most of the stages but the ecotricity isn't working and suffers from bad sound bleeds, the taste the world stage is still one of our favourites but it too small, some tv screen to help those at the back see what happening would help.
Arena loos were fine but the urinal got a bit ripe when the weather was hot but at least the screens went up at the start of the weekend and the litter pickers did a grand job too
Arena was fine too and there was plenty of stand pipes to drink from or refill a bottle
The fun fair seems to have lost it way, may be it should just run along the service road and move the golden lion next to the big red tent
Radio WOMAD was a cool as ever
Port and cheese was fun and Jax you may not be there next year but you port will be, happy to consider an alternative if people want to shake things up.
X mark the spot was fun as always and the lido was a god send during the hot weather
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Post by mikey on Aug 6, 2018 21:05:38 GMT
You had a lido?
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Post by jax2000 on Aug 7, 2018 7:35:41 GMT
They did...and it was heaven! There are photos I'm sure. 😊 |
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Post by sc on Aug 7, 2018 8:35:07 GMT
They did...and it was heaven! There are photos I'm sure. 😊 They did, I didn't try it, my feet pollute anything they touch |
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Post by calndel on Aug 7, 2018 21:48:07 GMT
it was lovely when it was hot
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Post by calndel on Aug 7, 2018 21:50:24 GMT
oh the CD store was very poorly stocked this year
we were not sure why but normally Del will buy at least 6 cd from artists we saw but this year he only bought one
may be it down the downloads, who knows
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Post by calndel on Aug 7, 2018 21:54:11 GMT
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Post by currygoat on Aug 10, 2018 10:13:25 GMT
The following is the honest opinion of a Womad lover. My intention is to be helpful and this is a place we can speak freely because very few people come to this site.
Attendance figures haven't been released so we must draw our own conclusions. If attendance is down, this is a problem that can't be ignored and we need to consider what is putting off the punters.
My view is that Womad has become too friendly to Guardian readers and too unfriendly to everybody else and as the proprietors of North London gastropubs will tell you, catering to Guardian readers is bad for business in the long run. On the face of it, these middle class corporate socialist punters seem like the ideal customers with their mixture of agreeableness and guilt at being so overpaid at the taxpayers' expense; they are easy to rip off and they don't complain if you make them queue for half an hour. However, they kill the atmosphere because they are so boring, cliquey and authoritarian and most people don't really like them. Womad is already addressing this problem by recruiting volunteers who are more likeable and gregarious but the "Bollocks to Brexit" stickers were a mistake because to people like me who respect the result of a democratic referendum, "Bollocks to Brexit" reads as "Bollocks to Democracy". Womad has created a space where small businesses like the healing and food stalls are not overshadowed by corporations like the BBC and Oxfam and artists like Hanggai who represent macho drinking cultures are as equally welcome on the stage as artists like Evie Ladin and Keith Terry who apologised to the audience for America electing Trump.
The World of Words is the place where Womad's political diversity breaks down. Womad needs to either include more stuff that challenges the authoritarian, corporate socialist point of view or ditch the World of Words altogether.
On another point, Oxfam are exploiting their volunteers by requiring them to do three 8-hour shifts. Womad should ditch Oxfam unless they bring it down to two 8-hour shifts.
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Post by mikey on Aug 10, 2018 19:51:39 GMT
As a Guardian reader I will say that I like the quality of journalism it produces, which is independent of any media mogul mega rich owner. Feel a bit narked at your sweeping generalisations about guilty middle class boring corporate socialists moaning how much they are paid by tax payer expense. Are we really killing the atmosphere?
Do not know where the bollocks to Brexit stickers were being given out (were they with Womad’s blessing?j but I have to agree with the sentiment, democratic? We were lied to, they cheated, disrespected the memory of Jo Cox by campaigning after her death (allegedly). But the stickers mean more, how much have we read about visa issues preventing artists playing at Womad (and artists now also thinking why bother coming to the UK as a visa rejection is crippingly expensive) the Brexit message was control of our borders, if that means making it harder for artists to enter the country then Womad may become a festival of UK based musicians or relocates abroad. So yes Bollocks to it.
What is your problem with the BBC? It is quite a low key presence other than, inevitably, the BBC CG stage where it is the BBC bringing in artists to perform (and broadcast). It must be a valuable source of funding and artist booking that helps keep Womad going.
Finally, what is the problem with world of words? Can not see what you mean by corporate socialist points of view when I look through the programme. Wars impact on women, living without plastics! Making prosthetic limbs for children. How are these subjects regarded as being corporate socialism
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