New Plymouth's Womad festival will be back in 2022. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey
New Plymouth's Womad festival will be back in 2022. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey
Iconic music, arts, and dance festival WOMAD has been cancelled for 2021.
Womad (The World of Music, Arts and Dance) New Zealand has pulled the pin on its 12-14 March 2021 schedule, after trying to find a new production partner when the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust (Taft) withdrew its supportin November.
At the time, Taft said it was a "heart-wrenching" decision influenced by the uncertainty of Covid-19.
Womad director Chris Smith said he received inquiries from New Zealand companies wanting to produce the festival.
"We have been working hard to develop a new partnership, and even though we are very close to getting the right arrangements in place with a great partner, producing a festival like Womad is a complicated task," Smith said.
"We feel that we have run out of time to get the Womad we all know and love in place by 12th March."
Womad's 2021 event has been cancelled. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey
Smith said the New Plymouth-based festival would be back in 2022.
"We believe that the right place for the Womad experience is still its home of the last 20 years the Brooklands Bowl, New Plymouth. We are doing everything we can to secure our long-term future there."
