It’s that multicultural fiesta during Adelaide’s Mad March that makes your muscles ache like they’ve never ached before. It’s where your larynx discovers your lungs. It’s where your every orifice gets covered in dust. And where memories are moulded from emotions you never knew you could feel when a new band, often one you’ve never heard of before, becomes the number one play on your iPhone. Believe the hype - WOMADelaide is addictive! From the first: “One two…one two…,” mike test to epic performances by global bands, musicians, singers, dancers and performers – and from the inspirational Artists in Conversation and Planet Talks to chef-led Taste the World workshops, WOMADelaide 2015 was an around-the-world marathon in four days. And despite a record 95,000 electrically charged festivalgoers buzzing about Adelaide’s Botanic Park over the long weekend, the grounds never felt crowded. I joined the audience at the ‘How Sustainable is Your Diet?’ Planet Talks workshop. On the panel were: Dr Evangeline Mantzioris, UniSA’s expert in nutrition and Louisa Rose, winemaker at Yalumba (voted best winemaker in Australia). And cooking live was celebrity chef: Simon Bryant. Bryant cooked MSC-certified Coorong yellow-eye mullet and green beans with his homegrown tomatoes, local organic eggs, caperberries, Kangaroo Island salt and mountain pepper. Knobby club rush created a bed upon which he smoked the fish, which was finished in a desert lime dressing. “We can all do better when choosing our ingredients,” said Bryant, as the fish sizzled away. “Legumes and lentils are nitrogen-based, and are a cover crop, which is kind to the soil. And caperberries are grown in dried-out Murraylands. They actually grow in the worst conditions, so capers can do no wrong environmentally!” Bryant also asked us to be ethically aware when cooking with native foods. In some cases, despite us thinking we are doing the right thing by eating healthy, it can lead to uncontrolled harvesting. In 2013 quinoa hit a popularity high in the Western world, leading to a price spike in South America, rendering it unaffordable for many locals. Dr Mantzioris, said: “Both in terms of food nutrition and sustainability, it’s what you do for the majority of the time that counts.” She added: “Did you know that each cup of coffee we’ve enjoyed has used 150 litres of water during production!” The audience gasped in sync. Bryant then added: “What we buy is a political choice!” He advised us to limit animal source protein, especially beef, goat and lamb, which emit high levels of methane (cattle alone contribute 15% of global CO2 emissions: five times more than air travel, and twice that of the Internet). He reminded us that pigs and chickens are gentler on the land, as are olive and canola oil (cold-pressed only). And the take-home message from Bryant was: “Feel grateful for food. Enjoy it, but be responsible!” I took note and lunched at Jock Zonfrillo’s pop-up restaurant: ‘Street in the Park’. Zonfrillo runs Adelaide’s Orana and Street ADL restaurants. On his menu here were dishes inspired by street food of the countries that this year’s WOMAD artists hail from. I chose the Senegalese chicken mafé, stewed in mixed vegetables and spices, and garnished with a chicken’s foot (it’s all about being open-minded at WOMADelaide!).
Then there were the musical geniuses. I joined the blues-loving herds heading to a unique act. Lit by late afternoon sun, Australia’s quirkiest artist, C.W. Stoneking, swooned the crowd. He performed: On a Desert Isle, The Zombie, and Jungle Swing. It felt like America’s auld deep south, but on the shores of Hawaii! Youssou N’Dour and his band, Super Etoile de Dakar, sent shivers down every spine. And mania set in when Neneh Cherry joined him to sing the duo’s famous 1994 hit: 7 Seconds. I also claimed my spot for Traditional Irish band, The Gloaming. And the second that Martin Hayes put bow to fiddle, smiles as wide as the Emerald isle itself painted the audience. The group serenaded us through adagios and crescendos, with the virtuoso pianist, Thomas Bartlett, skilfully fluttering his keys, re-inventing the millennial music of Ireland for a contemporary market. Toes tapped, heads nodded and hands smacked knees throughout the seated performance. But it was Song 44, with lyrics heart-touchingly delivered by the silken voice of Iarla Ó Lionaird, that muted mouths and moistened eyes. Infectious joy and jubilation continued as I strolled between century-old Moreton Bay figs, eucalypts and pines in this most handsome park—until the clouds puffed over. There were pink clouds, blue clouds, green, yellow and orange, exploding in the air. I’d walked straight into Artonik’s The Colour of Time parade. A locomotive chain of people snaked through the grounds, dancing to celebrate a depiction of India’s Holi festival, throwing their coloured gulal powder to the wind, painting people and their clothes into graffiti-like artworks.
And keep a lookout online for my full article on WOMADelaide 2015, which will soon appear on Our Planet Travel.
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