WOMADelaide

WOMADelaide is a four-day music festival held in March in the centrally located Botanic Park/Tainmuntilla. That is nestled right between the zoo and botanic gardens. Bitti and typically visit Tainmuntilla several times a year to climb and picnic in the ‘magic tree’ (just a very good tree for climbing).

Typically, 500-600 artists from 30+ countries perform on 7 or 8 stages spread across the 34-hectare park. Due to Australia’s COVID border policy and the price of flights though there were only a handful of international acts — great for home-grown music. I have only been to WOMAD once before when Bitti was 1 year old; I got a free ticket from some friends. This time we went with the same friends but I bought a 3-day pass. Kids under 12 are free with paying adults so it is a good option for families.

I am not big into music so I knew about three of the acts in the line-up over the whole weekend. Never mind that though, because I knew that taking Bitti would mean following her around as her whim took her. I knew there would be a kids zone set up with different workshops and activities such as shelter building, natural materials crafting, circus workshops and storytelling.

The first challenge was how to get in. I had thought we would ride the bikes in, but I was worried about the heat (heading to 32 degrees) and Bitti being too tired to ride home late at night. Parking near the venue would be cost-prohibitive. In the end I drove to North Adelaide, and we walked downhill to the entrance.

The first order of business was to find the magic tree. It was right next to the food trucks so they had set up tables and chairs beneath its eminently climb-able boughs, and had even strung lights in its branches. This did not stop all the kids from climbing the tree, and of course, being tempted to drop leaves and nuts onto the heads of the boring adults eating their lunch below.

Bitti and I spent most of the first day at this tree. Me sitting alone in a chair people-watching, her making new friends at height. She did eventually make a favourite new friend and they played for about three hours. I had a chat with her mum, who turned out to be a very interesting woman going through a career change and studying counselling. We had a quick D&M about single parenting and studying as ‘oldies’.

Bitti and I made it to the Kidszone at some point; she made a tent with sticks, rope and hessian sacks. When darkness fell we walked through a lighted tunnel and Bitti spun herself into oblivion on some light-up spinning cups. My friends had their kids roaming around too and occasionally the kids would play in the same space and I’d get to have a conversation. Somehow it was 9pm and I hauled Bitti up the hill to our car, planning our late night for Sunday.

On our second and final day in the festival I was determined to see at least one musical act! The Cat Empire was one group I had heard of, so I pencilled us in to see them at 9.30 pm on the big stage. The whole day was eaten up again with Bitti playing with her friends in the Kidzone, this time creating musical instruments in an SA Museum workshop. We ate all our packed lunches and then faced the insanely over-priced mini pizzas for dinner. Mid-afternoon we did manage to sit and enjoy the The Crooked Fiddle Band while the kids drew sketches on the program. They were super high-energy and fun.

Everyone seemed to be in a good mood so the overall festival vibe was relaxed, kind of like an enormous wedding. The weather was hot during the day and mild at night, not cool enough to add layers though. I had a few more random chats with strangers as we lined up for food or the toilets. Bitti didn’t manage to find her new friend from Saturday though. Somehow, the day went past in a blur again, and it was time to get to the main stage.

Bitti was determined to stay til the end, but her friend, C, was wearing out. Halfway through The Cat Empire’s set C fell asleep on the picnic rug, adults dancing all around her. Bitti, as is well-documented, cannot get to sleep at the best of times so certainly wasn’t about to drop off while there was a Flamenco dance being blasted at top volume. She tried to snuggle down but just couldn’t relax enough, so would get up and dance half-heartedly for a while, then back down for a rest. Just before the last number C’s mum found us and collected her so I took our chance to leave.

We walked back to the gate and Bitti was complaining already about her sore legs. She’d done 21,000 steps already so no wonder! I had a bright idea to use a ride-share scooter to get back to the car. I’ve seen people riding them around the city for a couple of years now but have never bothered downloading the app to try them. Well, why not have the first time be with a child and an enormous backpack at 11 pm?

We located a scooter just north of the zoo and Bitti wore the helmet. I got on behind her and she rested her hands on mine. I was a bit worried about keeping balance, but as soon as we were rolling it was easy as pie. I also didn’t think it would power us up the quite steep hill into North Adelaide. But it didn’t strain at all, straight up! It was so much fun, Bitti thought it was wonderful and topped her list of experiences for Sunday.

Although it was an exhausting way to spend a long weekend, I would absolutely go to WOMAD again. Bitti absolutely loved it, despite being sure she would hate it. This year was a bit special I think because we are slowly emerging from COVID times and everyone seemed to really be appreciating the experience of being allowed to gather en masse! Best behaviour everywhere. Next time I will try to get to one evening without Bitti so I can enjoy the music a bit more.