Historic Cáceres Celebrates 15th WOMAD Festival

Cáceres, Spain – Between May 10 and 13, Cáceres (Extremadura, Spain) will host the WOMAD world music festival in its streets and ancient town squares. The main venues will be the Plaza Mayor and Plaza de San Jorge, together with the Gran Teatro. The workshops will be held at Palacio Carvajal.

Tuvan group Huun Huur Tu will inaugurate the festival on May 10. The artists scheduled are 24 and they come from 15 countries in four continents. There will be Berber and Arab Andalusian sounds by Akim El Sikameya (Argelia), Irish traditions represented by Cara Dillon & Sam and Liam Ó Maonlaí, Flamenco guitar by David Tavares (Brazilian artist living in Spain), soul music with Fatback Band (USA), veteran singer Tania María (Brazil) and young Sudanese rapper Emmanuel Jal.

Contemporary Cuba will be represented by Habana Abierta. There will also be Tuvan throat singing with Huun-Huur-Tu, new tango by La Chicana (Argentina), Apro-Peruvian beats with Susana Baca, the jely (griot) oral tradition of Mory Kanté (Guinea) and Chinese melodies by Guo Yue and Liu Fang. Two Spanish fusionists, mestizo artists Carmen París and Muchachito Bombo Infierno, will also be featured.

Four local world music acts from Extremadura will also perform at the festival: Los Niños de los Ojos Rojos, El Desván del Duende, Gecko Turner and Jerigüey.

WOMAD Cáceres is organized by the Consorcio Gran Teatro, formed by Cultural Department of the Junta de Extremadura (regional government), Diputación de Cáceres (provincial government), the City of Cáceres and Caja Extremadura. For more information, go to www.bme.es/womad/2006/index.html.