WOMADelaide is an awkward hybrid combining the ‘world of music, arts and dance’ with the capital city of South Australia. It’s the Australian incarnation of a festival staged in various forms around the world since it was started in England in 1982 by former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel and others. WOMAD in Adelaide opened a decade later and has been staged annually since 2003, part of a festival season the locals refer to as ‘mad March’—incorporating the Adelaide Festival, the Adelaide Fringe and Adelaide Writers’ Week. According to the publicity, last year more than 90,000 people came to lap up music, dance, workshops, talks, art installations and food from more than thirty countries in a bazaar-like atmosphere in Botanic Park.

This year was my fifth WOMADelaide and the third in a row. But while I’m a fan of the event, it’s hard for me not to notice the dearth of performers from Asia, especially from Southeast Asia. In fact, last year there were none. The 2020 line-up seems to have a few more artists than usual from Australia’s regional neighbours. There’s Maubere Timor, fronted by veteran independence fighters from Timor-Leste, and the Orang Orang Drum Theatre from Malaysia. From Taiwan, there’s the impressive B. Dance, and from Japan, the Minyo Crusaders, valiantly seeking to revive a form of folk song they say has become extinct, playing cumbia beats and wearing masks and kimonos. The Crusaders were one of two bands from Japan this year; the other, Kikagaku Moyo, plays psychedelic rock reminiscent of last year’s crowd favourites Khruangbin (a US band with a Thai name).

• Tags: Australia, Issue 19, Mina Bui Jones, WOMADelaide