Youssou N'Dour heads Womad lineup
Historic Fort Canning Park plays host to the 10th Womad festival this month in an event that is ensuring Singapore strikes a chord with fans of world music and dance.
More than 20,000 people attended Singapore Womad last year, a record since the privately run outdoor event was first held there in 1998. Womad (World Music and Dance) has since overcome the Sars scare, licence lobbying and the struggle to gather sponsorship to introduce some 160 of the world's artists to the Lion City.
The three-day event, from August 24 to 26, will feature six stages including a Taste the World venue based in the newly created Holistic Corner. This new space offers a quiet corner away from the 'madding crowd' of the festival. Set up almost as a secret garden, tucked away beside Fort Gate stage, festivalgoers can benefit from reiki healing, enjoy palmistry services and browse through offerings by a range of unusual stalls.
'The energy and celebratory atmosphere have made Womad Singapore truly unique and distinctive,' said Lynette Pang, an events and entertainment director with Singapore Tourism Board.
'Such events appeal to visitors who appreciate quality lifestyle options and are significant in profiling Singapore as an exciting and vibrant destination that offers a pulsating night-life, round-the-clock entertainment and world-class arts performances year-round.'
The musical lineup this year includes Britain's Asian Dub Foundation, Youssou N'Dour and the Super Etoile de Dakar from France, singer Sheila Chandra from India, South Africa's Mahotella Queens and David D'Or from Israel. Youssou N'Dour and the Super Etoile de Dakar will headline on the Saturday night. The Senegalese superstar has sung with stars such as Peter Gabriel, Dido and Neneh Cherry. Asian Dub Foundation head the lineup on the Friday night while Senegal trio Daara J take to the stage on the Sunday. Making his debut performance in Singapore is Muntu Valdo from Cameroon who fuses bossanova, Afro-Cuban and blues with soul and funk. Singapore's own versatile producer and club collaborator r-H will perform 'club sets' over the weekend. Womad Singapore 2007 festival director, Sarah Martin, said: 'We have only begun to celebrate the world's diversity in music over the past 10 years. The festival is like a deep ocean. When the streams of the world come together, it becomes a boundless sea of musical possibility.'