Matters of Interest

WOMADelaide

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:25): As another Mad March comes to an end, I take this opportunity to talk about one of its most iconic events, WOMADelaide. This year marked its 25^th anniversary. The event livens up our Botanic Park with music, art, dance and food from all around the world. The first ever festival in 1992 was a joint venture between the Adelaide Festival and the UK-based WOMAD organisation, established by Peter Gabriel in 1982 for the presentation of a festival presenting the world of music, arts and dance from around the globe.

WOMADelaide was subsequently staged as a standalone event biennially from 1993 in alternate years to the then biennially staged Adelaide Festival. It has only recently shifted to an annual cycle from 2004, once again as part of the Adelaide Festival program, which has also (since 2012) moved to an annual cycle. In February 2004, the WOMADelaide Foundation, a not-for-profit body on the commonwealth government's Register of Cultural Organisations, was established to present the festival each year. From there, it became a four-day event in 2010 in celebration of the Adelaide Festival's 50^th anniversary, running over the Monday public holiday in March.

For this year's event, it has been reported that attendance peaked at 90,000 people. Many of them are tourists. The positive economic impact on the state is profound. Last year's figures show that $15.5 million was injected into the South Australian economy from the activity generated from WOMADelaide. WOMADelaide has become a big name international festival, which greatly assists South Australia in upholding its reputation as a Unesco City of Music.

The demonstration of heritage through music is an important cultural perspective not lost on me, Mr President. This is particularly the case when considering the many Indigenous performances that were showcased at this year's event. Indeed, WOMADelaide was opened with the Welcome to Country led by Steve Gadlabarti Goldsmith, an elder of our local Kaurna people. I have also spoken in this place previously about how important storytelling in a native language can be, which I often try to do at home with my kids.

I am also pleased that Aboriginal storytelling was given a primary focus in this year's festival. One performer, Gawurra, sang in his native Gupapuyngu language, reviving ancient song lines, which saw him win four National Indigenous Music Awards in 2016, including album of the year. In KidZone, which was a space at WOMADelaide designated for children, at the end of each day there was a feature containing Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri stories with Allan Sumner.

Food is another expression of culture. It was great to hear that one of our renowned chefs, Poh, relocated her lunch and dinner service restaurant to the Botanic Park for WOMADelaide. As the chef-in-residence at this year's Taste the World Restaurant, Poh served up a feast of dishes inspired by childhood memories of her birth country, Malaysia.

WOMADelaide has received numerous industry awards over the years, including the 2015 Australian Event Award's Best Cultural, Arts or Music Event, the SA Music and Fowler's Live Awards, Best Festival/Best Music Event for four years running—between 2012 and 2015—the 2008 Helpmann Award for Best Contemporary Music Festival and nominations in each of the 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2016 Helpmann Awards for Best Contemporary Music Festival.

The state government continues to be the principal partner for WOMADelaide, but a big thank you must go to many of WOMADelaide's other local sponsors, such as Coopers, Yalumba, Hills Cider, the University of South Australia, Novatech, ABC Adelaide, Adelaide City Council and Foodland, amongst many others, who help make this event such a success. This amazing South Australian-made festival is only possible with the tireless work of its organisers and volunteers. To all the many of them, I say thank you.