The Avalanches, Anoushka Shankar Lead WOMADelaide 2018’s First Line-up

“We are thrilled to be announcing this line-up of such amazingly talented and original artists for next year’s festival,” WOMADelaide Director Ian Scobie says in a release. “These artists – and the many more yet to be announced – represent some of the world’s most dynamic musical traditions, all excitingly reinvented and celebrated.”

One of the biggest names to make the line-up is six-time Grammy nominee and sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar. Next year’s event will mark the second time Shankar has graced the WOMADelaide stage, after performing with her father Ravi Shankar in 2010.

Australian electronic all-stars The Avalanches are on the line-up after touring the world with their first album in 16 years with 2016’s Wildlflower while Dan Sultan and the Yirrmal & the Miliyawutj Band are also there keeping the Australian contingent strong.

Anoushka Shankar

Another landmark performance will be Havana Meets Kingston, in an Australian debut. Featuring the legendary reggae duo Sly & Robbie, Buena Vista Social Club members, Los Van Van, Chucho Valdes and Inna de Yard, this collaboration from Australian producer Mista Savona blends Jamaican bass with Afro-Cuban tunes.

Rodrigo y Gabriela will bring their trademark rock/flamenco to WOMADelaide for the first time, as will modern jazz darling and US saxophonist Kamasi Washington. Malian desert blues guitarists Tinariwen will also return to the festival for the first time since 2008.

Full list of WOMADelaide’s 2018 first line-up announcement:

– Adrian Sherwood (UK)
– Anoushka Shankar (India/UK)
– Architects of Air “Arboria” (UK)
– The Avalanches (Australia)
– Bixiga 70 (Brazil)
– Chico Trujillo (Chile)
– Dan Sultan (Australia)
– Daymé Arocena (Cuba)
– Havana Meets Kingston (Cuba/Jamaica)
– Kamasi Washington (USA)
– Le Vent du Nord (Canada)
– Noura Mint Seymali (Mauritania)
– Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band (Ghana)
– Rahim Alhaj Trio (Iraq)
– Rodrigo y Gabriela (Mexico)
– Tinariwen (Mali)
– Violons Barbares (France/Mongolia/Bulgaria)
– Yirrmal & the Miliyawutj Band (Australia)

Header image: Havana Meets Kingston