The Thousands

If you were having a judgemental jerk day it would be tempting to lump this into the ‘ugh, world!’ pile. What with all the ‘oi-yoi-yoi pass me the doobie we will save Africa today after I find cheap parking’, and the temporary penchant for daisy chains and one-off hook ups with a dreadlocked somebody that on any other day would be ‘ew’. Tempting, yeah. But fair? No way. That would just be cynical poop. WOMAD Earth Station is more than a day of sandals and beer. It is three days of sandals, beer AND Cate Blanchett.

But, Cate Blanchett isn’t the key drawcard no matter how much you wish she was your mummy. Neither are performers like Sweden’s Bob Dylan, The Tallest Man on Earth. Or Paris Wells, or the rainbow (heh heh) of other world music performers. The nitty gritty is in the discussions, talks and the PAMPHLETS that will punctuate the good times with important information about the current state and future of our world.

Earth Station features a bunch of talks by leading scientists, academics, writers and thinkers including Al Gore’s ex Chief of Staff Roy Neel and comedian Rod Quantock, as well as roving performers, nature walks, workshops, and all the information on sustainability and the environment that you can handle. This is the first ever Earth Station. You can camp out. Probably get stoned on ‘information’ if that’s your thing. Dance around. Learn something. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of oi-yoi-yoi anyway, Marley was pretty damn cool.