It was rather a case of Womadus Interuptus for us this year as we had to return home on the Saturday for a wedding. But this didn’t detract from another superb weekend of musical entertainment from around the World, which seemed to have more of a predominantly Arabian & Eastern theme than has been the case in previous years. There were standout performances from Les Yeux Noirs, The Youngblood Brass Band & especially Bajofondo Tango Club on the Friday as well as Wicked Aura Batucada on the Sunday lunchtime. We also enjoyed excellent performances from better known names such as Robert Plant, Richie Havens & Apache Indian.

There were a couple of new bars serving a selection of brews from Bath Ales, although the excellent Wild Hare was sadly as rare its namesake. We also saw the return of a Spiegeltent which housed the nightly cabaret and for the first time there was a limited schedule of entertainment for the early birds on the Thursday. On the downside the gents urinals in the main arena leaked like a sieve, the family field of previous years was given over entirely to car parking, with the resultant lengthy hike to the camping fields and we also suffered a 2 & a half hour wait to get out of the car park on Monday.

This is the first festival at which I have had a chance to try out my new Panasonic FZ5 camera. So with that 12X optical zoom & anti-shake mechanisms I’m finally able to get some of the close up & atmospheric shots that my Olympus compact wasn’t able to give me. I’m pleased with the results. I hope you enjoy them.