1990s WOMADelaide was first run in 1992 as part of the
Adelaide Festival of Arts from an invitation by Rob Brookman to the UK WOMAD organisation to run an event in Adelaide after seeing the success of other WOMADs in Europe. It was due to be held in Long Gully Oval,
Belair National Park on a single stage but got moved to Botanic Park at a late stage and after flyers had been printed due to bush fire threats. Three-day passes were priced at , equivalent to in , reduced to for concession entitled, with one person under 15 years of age admitted free for each adult ticket. A full day-and-night ticket costs $60 ($45 concession), and individual sessions start at $25. From 1993 the festival officially moved to Botanic Park, after the threat of bush fires in 1992, and ran every two years (in odd-numbered years) to not conflict with subsequent editions of the Adelaide Festival. Three-day passes were priced at $98 ($80 concession), with one person under 15 years of age admitted free for each adult ticket. Full day-and-night tickets cost $60 ($45 concession). 1993 also saw the first time festival founder
Peter Gabriel appear in Australia. Peak audience attendance in 1993 was 33,000. The 1995 audience attendance was 55,000. Stage 4 was added, as well as The Virtual Artists' internet tent. At the time, a futuristic component of the program with
Netscape web browser and
CUCME video conferencing software launching that week.
The Discovery Channel made a documentary on WOMADelaide's 10-
megabyte connection. A one-off
CD compilation of artists playing this year, ''
Womadelaide '95'', was also released. From 1996, the management and production of WOMADelaide was taken on by the Adelaide-based company Arts Projects Australia. There was also a small event, the one-off WOMAD
Indian Pacific train trip from
Perth to
Pimba across the
Nullarbor Plain on a chartered Indian Pacific train featuring performances on board the carriages and culminated in a finale concert at Spud's Roadhouse at Pimba, north of Adelaide. The lineup comprised the following. •
Archie Roach and
Ruby Hunter with
Dave Steel (Australia) •
Francis Bebey (Cameroon) •
Mara! (Australia) • Paul Kelly (Australia) •
Purna Das Baul and the Bauls of Bengal (India) •
Remmy Ongala (Tanzania) • Shu-De (Tuva) and The Well Oiled Sisters (Scotland) 1997 peak audience attendance across the weekend: 60,000. A sibling event, WOMAD Pacific, in New Zealand, also founded in
Auckland the weekend after WOMADelaide, also bi-annually. 1998 saw another one-off event called
WOMAD in the Vales, held at McLaren Vale Oval on 15 March 1998 to celebrate the end of
Robyn Archer's 1998
Adelaide Festival of Arts. The lineup comprised the following. •
The Barkers (Australia) •
Geoffrey Oryema (Uganda) •
My Friend the Chocolate Cake (Australia) • Pa Jobarteh (Gambia) •
The Sabri Brothers (Pakistan) •
Shooglenifty (Scotland) • Southern Pipes and Drums (Australia) • Tiddas (Australia) •
Yulduz Usmanova (Uzbekistan) 1999 introduced Stage 5 (formerly the Workshop Stage), KidZone, off-site school based workshops and finally, the WoZone nightclub at the nearby
Adelaide University bar. The WoZone ran on Friday and Saturday from midnight till 5am, after curfew finished at Botanic Park. Three different rooms for live acts,
DJs and chilling out with projections and ambient music. A CD compilation of festival highlights for the Australian and New Zealand events started this year, rather than being a one-off as in 1995.
2000s In 2001, to celebrate the United Nations
International Year of Volunteers, 18 volunteers operated the first information booth, and Stage 5 changed locations.
Papa Wemba replaced late cancellation
Femi Kuti. 2002 saw another one-off small scale event, called
The WOMAD Warm-Up, three concerts and three workshops held in September at the
Adelaide Festival Centre. The lineup comprised the following. •
Chartwell Dutiro (Zimbabwe) •
Sally Nyolo (Cameroon) •
Trio Mocotó (Brazil) •
Ruby Hunter (Australia) •
Seckou Keita (Senegal) • Mara and Llew Kiek (Australia) • Ben Baddoo (Ghana) In 2003, WOMADelaide became an annual festival, following a decision by the
Rann government to financially support the event until at least 2009. That year, WOMADelaide Foundation Limited was also established as a
not-for-profit organisation. The Foundation presented subsequent festivals and special projects for remote
Indigenous arts communities. The festival also moved to February and March to avoid the summer heat. 2003 also introduced the remedial therapy and relaxation area called
Sanctuary but later renamed
Healing Village. The sibling WOMAD Pacific became
WOMAD New Zealand and an annual event, and moved to its permanent setting in Brooklands Park,
New Plymouth in
Taranaki. Weekend passes were $158 per adult, $135 for groups of 10 or more, $114 for concessions, with each adult able to bring a child under 12 for free and $52 for each additional child. On Saturday and Sunday, day and night passes were $92, $78, $66 and each additional child $38 respectively. Similarly, Friday and Sunday night passes were $62, $52, $45 and $32 for each additional child respectively, and finally Sunday night passes were $79, $68, $55 and $32 for each additional child respectively. WoZone tickets were $20 at the door, and $10 with a festival ticket stub. 2004 was the year Taste The World was introduced. An innovation that also went to subsequent New Zealand and UK festivals. Also the WOMADelaide Parade began this year. The last WoZone, prices for this were only $5 at the door. Changes in 2005 included Stage 4 being renamed
Zoo Stage, Stage 5 renamed
Moreton Stage and Stage 6 renamed
Dell. Festival was officially
carbon neutral for the first time, and on-site
ATMs were introduced. The 2006 event saw Speakers Corner introduced as well as the Parachilna Garden Cafe, the on-site restaurant run in partnership with Andrew Fielke from the Prairie Hotel in the Flinders Ranges. Also, Talvin Singh had the honour of being the first DJ in Botanic Park when he played on Stage 3. Tickets were priced at $172 for the weekend, discounted Friends of the Adelaide Festival or groups of 10 or more were $149, and concessions at $125. Three days passes were priced at $220 for the weekend, discounted Friends of the Adelaide Festival or groups of 10 or more were $184, and concessions $165. Friday tickets were $75, $68 and $60 respectively, and Saturday and Sunday were $98, $85, $73 respectively. 2007 a cinema and pharmacy were added, and DJs closed the festival each night in Speakers Corner. Workshops were help for visual arts at the Park Arts and Functions Complex, and weekend pass tickets were $182 for adults, $154 for groups of 10 or more, and $135 for concessions. In 2008 a one-off Eco Village joined the site. In 2009 the first WOMADelaide Forest was planted, in partnership with
Greening Australia in South East Australia. KidZone had a stage from 2009, and track matting pathways were also added to combat both dry and wet conditions.
2010s In 2010, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Adelaide Festival of Arts, WOMADelaide extended to four days. Due to overwhelming popularity, the festival has continued at this length. That year, WOMADelaide was produced and presented by the WOMADelaide Foundation, was managed by Arts Projects Australia and WOMAD Ltd, and was presented in association with the
Government of South Australia. In 2015 the
South Australian Tourism Commission (an agency of the Government of South Australia) replaced the Government of South Australia as the event's new principal partner. As of 2017, the South Australian Tourism Commission remains the event's principal partner. In 2017, WOMADelaide became a
smoke-free event, with provision for smoking in three designated areas. In addition to a festival highlights CD, a
DVD was also released this year as a one-off.
2020s The last annual festival highlights CD was released in 2020. In 2021, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, WOMADelaide was held in
King Rodney Park / Ityamai-itpina instead of its usual location at Botanic Park, so that the venue could comply with the
COVID-19 restrictions. The format was changed to a series of seated concerts on a single stage, opening with
Archie Roach and closing with
Midnight Oil and First Nations collaborators on their
Makarrata Live project. This was also the first year of
WOMADelaide x NSS Academy, a collaboration with the youth music centre
Northern Sound System, which was established to provide training and development program for emerging
Aboriginal South Australians and
multicultural artists. The program identified 10 artists in its first year or operation, with musical duo
MRLN x RKM selected to support
Vika and Linda and Midnight Oil at WOMAD. In 2022 the festival returned to Botanic Park for the festival's 30th celebrations. In 2023 the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia waned, and the event sold out its first three days (Friday–Sunday) for the first time, and was nearly sold out for its final day on the public holiday Monday. == Reception ==