“ The tide goes out really fast there , so we had to drive for miles to catch up with the tide and get to the sea water to pump it into the bowsers , before turning around and having to get up to 50 miles an hour in order to be able to drive back over the sand banks . That was my introduction to site management .”
Nearly 30 years later , water would prove to be a key factor in making the first WOMAD at Charlton Park equally memorable . Joining the festival , alongside Smith , that year was Rupert Bassadone who is now its head of operations .
“ I started as an assistant looking after a bit of procurement and the site office . It was the first time I had ever done that role and it turned out to be the wettest WOMAD on record . That year broke some people , but I was one of the fortunate ones who managed to
Mandy Adams
“ Right from the word go there was an emphasis on great facilities , food and drink . WOMAD was one of the first boutique festivals .”
– Martin Elbourne
survive it and grow with the event .” says Bassadone .
Smith says the only reason WOMAD wasn ’ t cancelled in 2007 was that nobody knew how to cancel it and retain the cancellation insurance : “ We thought the local authority would do it , the local authority thought that we would do it and the police thought the authority would , so no one did and we had to press on because if we didn ’ t it would have been a financial disaster .”
Despite the hideous weather conditions and multiple issues across the site that year , Smith says it proved to be a beneficial experience : “ Afterwards , we sat down and said , ‘ how and why did this go so horribly wrong ?’ We talked about the Reading site and what we had there , and what we didn ’ t have at the new site . As a result , we invested heavily in infrastructure to make sure we would never find ourselves in that situation again . It was a vital lesson that I think has put us in good shape ever since .”
As well as more robust infrastructure , the problems encountered in 2007 led to a redesign of the festival layout and the arena area being relocated .
“ We took over a whole new field and expanded the site by around 20 acres , and we started using the Arboretum ,” says Bassadone .
Charlton Park may have resembled a swamp in 2007 , but Haddrell soon learned that the ground could be unfriendly in more favourable weather conditions : “ It is hard as a rock , which means that when we are putting up marquees and other structures we have to use hydraulic breakers to get the stakes in . The benefit of that is we have some of the most well-anchored structures on any festival site in the county , but it is a real challenge and we have broken many machines over the years doing it .”
Aside from site planning and infrastructure , the move to Charlton Park created other issues . Says Smith , “ At a stroke we lost 30 % of our audience because they were Reading locals who were not prepared to travel and camp . We had to find a new audience while keeping as many as possible of the existing attendees .”
Staying power “ The fact that our festival has had 15 years in Charlton Park alone , and 40 years in total , is because we have managed to evolve and regenerate ,” says Smith . “ I ’ m very proud of that – it is a huge achievement . Many festivals , your Big Chills and Bestivals , have a life span because of the type of music they have , but WOMAD is much broader than that ; it makes a really important cultural contribution to the UK . I regard it as the Southbank Centre of festivals , we just do it all in a field in Wiltshire .”
Elbourne says that among the other reasons for WOMAD ’ s longevity is the focus on creating a pleasant environment , with good food and drink , as well as the diverse line-up of acts : “ Right from the word go , there was an emphasis on great facilities , food and drink . Dressing the site with flags and things like that has long since been copied by other festivals but WOMAD was pretty much the first to do it . WOMAD was one of the first boutique festivals .”
Lulu Cowley has overseen the traders at WOMAD since 2008 . The boss of Beau Nosh Catering , she first started selling food at the festival back in the Carlyon Bay days .
“ The WOMAD audience is
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