Peter Gabriel has announced that his WOMAD festival will be taking a break next year, before returning to a new location for 2026.
WOMAD, which stands for World of Music, Arts and Dance, was founded by Gabriel in 1980 with the aim of spotlighting an eclectic mixture of genres. Since then, the festival has travelled to 27 countries across the world, while the main UK event has taken place in Charlton Park in Wiltshire since 2007.
This year was its 42nd edition and, as announced today (November 5), it’s last in Charlton Park.
In a statement, Gabriel has shared that, after 17 years in Wiltshire, WOMAD is “moving to a new home” that is “not far” from the current site. “To ensure that the festival can continue to thrive for years to come in our new location, we have decided to take a year off in 2025 before returning fully charged in 2026,” he added.
Gabriel went on to say: “WOMAD, like many festivals and events, has seen some challenges post-COVID and we are now engaged in the process of re-evaluating, regenerating and reinvigorating everything we do – and where we want to go in the future. We’re delighted to say we’ll be announcing our new plans over the next few weeks.”
WOMAD Festival 2024. CREDIT: Matt Cardy/Getty Images
It follows the festival’s cancellation in 2021 amid the COVID pandemic which, at the time, Gabriel put down to a lack of support from the UK government. He had previously warned that the event would be cancelled unless the government offered an insurance program.
Gabriel has added that multiple WOMAD festivals around the world, “including WOMADelaide, WOMAD New Zealand and WOMAD Cáceres” will still be taking place over the next year, “with plans for further events in Las Palmas, Brazil and Chile” too. He also revealed there will be a “special UK event for next year to deliver a taste of the unique WOMAD experience,” which will be announced in the coming week.
He continued: “We want to send a massive “Thank You” to all of the brilliant staff at Charlton Park who made us feel welcome for the last 17 years, pulling us out of many sticky situations (quite literally, on those rainy weekends!). We couldn’t have done what we did without you.
“Also, to the fabulous community in Malmesbury, Charlton, and all the surrounding villages for whom we created a few days of disruption each year. You have always responded positively and embraced WOMAD, welcoming us into your community and working with us in so many ways.”
Peter Gabriel (Photo by Scott Legato/Getty Images)
“Finally, thank you to all of the Festival-Goers, Artists, Crew, Contractors, Volunteers and Traders who make WOMAD possible, a treasure in the festival calendar and a vital contribution to bringing communities together from all over the world to celebrate diversity and tolerance through Music, Arts, Dance, and Culture,” he added. “We look forward to welcoming you all to our new site in 2026.”
In other news, last year Gabriel appeared in a video by Artist for Action to Prevent Gun Violence, an organisation that asks Americans to vote to eradicate gun violence in the country. “As much as I love the United States, I am always appalled at the ease with which anyone can get a weapon,” Gabriel says in the video.
He also weighed in on the AI debate, saying, “I’m probably just as scared [of AI] as everybody else, but I like to jump in the river rather than talk about it…I do think about it quite a lot, and I think not enough people are thinking about it.”
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