The wait is over for the WOMADelaide faithful, as the first 20 groups are announced for the 2020  festival,to be presented over 6-9 March 2020 in the picturesque surrounds of Adelaide’s Botanic Park.

Leading the first announcement is living musical legend, civil rights icon, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Grammy Award-winner, Mavis Staples. Hailed by NPR as “one of America’s defining voices of freedom and peace,” Staples is the kind of once-in-a-generation artist whose impact on music and culture would be difficult to overstate.‘The Golden Voice of Africa’, Salif Keita (Mali), returns to WOMADelaide with a cracking eight-piece band as part of his farewell tour, celebrating 50 years of music and 70 years of life. From humble beginnings with the Rail Band of the Train Station Hotel in Bamako and a life of tribulations as an albino, Keita’s latest album Autre Blanc (Another White)calls on the world to celebrate difference.

Fresh from the release of their seventh studio album and a tour of Europe that included two shows at Glastonbury, The Cat Empire return to WOMADelaide for an unprecedented fifth appearance. Over 17 years,the band has come to be considered ‘family’, growing up with the festival since their first show at WoZone, the festival’s late night club,in 2003. In 2020 the adored headliners will close the main stage on 6 March. Also announced today is Orquesta Akokán (Cuba) a stunning big band that redefines the golden era of Cuban Mambo, morphing Havana with the creative and talented spirit of the NY Latin scene,the USA’s master of lo-fi, underground rock, Bill Callahan, best known under the band name Smog, and Australia’s Grammy-nominated Hiatus Kaiyote with a new album on the way, joining New Zealand’s indie superstar Aldous Harding.

What: WOMADelaide 2020

Where: Adelaide Botanic Park

When: Friday, 6 March 2020–Monday, 9 March 2020

To Find Out More Click Here