BBC RADIO 3 ASIAN NETWORK AND WOMAD
BBC Radio 3 celebrates its sixth anniversary as WOMAD media partner with a weekend of broadcasts from the festival, and, for the first time, the BBC Asian Network joins the celebrations at Rivermead in Reading.
This year Radio 3 has its own dedicated broadcast stage, hosting acoustic performances from headlining acts as well as World on Your Street live performances. Radio 3 broadcasts seven hours of live music from the world’s leading world music festival, introduced by Andrew McGregor, Andy Kershaw, Fiona Talkington and Lucy Duran, as well as having an even greater live presence than before at WOMAD.
The BBC Asian Network will welcome festival-goers in the BBC Asian Network Musical Rickshaw tent, offering live DJ sets from Bobby Friction, Nerm and Pathaan and free music downloads from Brit-Asian artists via the station’s listening posts. WOMAD will also be the first outing for the BBC Asian Network’s Station Wagon, a converted ambulance which will appear at BBC Asian Network live music events throughout the summer.
BBC Radio 3’s broadcasts – including live sets from the two main stages, recorded highlights, interviews and special performances from the BBC’s mobile studio – cover the entire weekend, from Friday night (28 July 10.15pm) with Andrew McGregor; Lucy Duran with a special edition of World Routes on Saturday afternoon (29 July 1.00pm), Andrew McGregor late on Saturday (29 July 10.30pm) and Andy Kershaw in his usual 10.15pm timeslot on Sunday 30 July. The coverage continues throughout the following two weeks in Late Junction with Verity Sharp, and on World Routes with Lucy Duran on Saturday 12 August.
BBC Asian Network's broadcasts from WOMAD will include performances from Anoushka Shankar, Nina Virdee and Trilok Gurtu & Misra Brothers on the station's arts, entertainment and culture show Nikki Bedi on the BBC Asian Network and its global music show Pathaan's Musical Rickshaw.
WOMAD WEEKEND BROADCASTS
Friday 28 July, 10.15-11.30pm:
Andrew McGregor starts the weekend with a show including performances from the Mahotella Queens from South Africa, Värttinä from Finland and England’s Bellowhead, as well as a live performance on the Radio 3 stage from Vusi Mahlasela. There is also a session with Chinese flute player Guo Yue from the BBC studio truck.
Saturday 29 July, 1.00-2.30pm:
Lucy Duran introduces a special World Routes featuring a live performance by Niger’s desert blues group Etran Finatawa as well as Sudanese rapper Emmanuel Jal and Colombian salsa from Roberto Pla, and recorded highlights from sitarist Anoushka Shankar.
Saturday 29 July, 10.30pm-1.00am:
Andrew McGregor and Lucy Duran introduce live performances from Nigerian Afrobeat star Femi Kuti on the Open Air stage, and percussionist Trilok Gurtu with Indian classical singers the Misra Brothers from the Siam Tent. There are also performances from Thomas Mapfumo from Zimbabwe and flamenco singer Enrique Morente, and Fiona Talkington introduces an acoustic set from Malian kora virtuoso Toumani Diabete live from the Radio 3 stage.
Sunday 30 July, 10.15pm-12.00midnight:
Andy Kershaw rounds off the weekend in his usual timeslot with live sets from Angelique Kidjo from Benin and Marseille-based singer Moussu T, Sudanese rapper and former child soldier Emmanuel Jal and Akli D from Algeria, as well as a performance by Konono No.1, fresh from their success at the 2006 Radio 3 Awards for World Music.
There are further highlights in Late Junction over the following fortnight with Verity Sharp, and on World Routes with Lucy Duran on Saturday 12 August, as well as full coverage of WOMAD at bbc.co.uk/radio3, including complete recordings of many live performances.
Radio 3 stage
For the first time, BBC Radio 3 has its own dedicated broadcast stage at WOMAD 2006. Fiona Talkington will host intimate, mostly acoustic performances from WOMAD’s headlining acts, including an acoustic set from Malian kora virtuoso Toumani Diabate. The stage also hosts World on Your Street acts from UK-based musicians, including Birmingham’s Kurdish musicians the Se Tin Trio, Indian classical singer Nina Virdee from Berkshire and London’s Congolese band Kasai Masai.
Other performances on the Radio 3 stage include:
Daby Balde
Spiers & Boden
Vusi Mahlasela
Roberto Pla
Knaan
Emmanuel Jal
Pedro Luis Ferrer
Stella Chiweshe
Moussu T
Listen live to BBC Radio 3 at 90-93 FM, online at bbc.co.uk/radio3 and via digital cable on channels Sky Digital 853, Telewest 903, NTL Digital 861 or 403 and Freeview 73.
Listen live to the BBC Asian Network on DAB Digital radio, online at www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork, via digital television on the following channels; Sky Digital 0119, Telewest & Broadband 912, NTL 867 and Freeview 709 as well as on the MW frequency in the Midlands