Photo Gallery: WOMADelaide Day 1 with Archie Roach, Sarah Blasko & Lior and the ASO

The scaled-down COVID-safe Womadelaide still had plenty of the charm and community that we expect from this annual world music festival.

Jamie Goldsmith presented a welcome to country and explained the meanings of the traditional greetings and names. King Rodney Park was named after a Kuarna elder. Womad opened with seasoned performer Archie Roach, who reinterpreted his songs from some twenty years ago. It was a bittersweet moment. He recalls that many of the people involved in the making of the record have since passed away.

As the sun set over the park, Lior and Nigel Westlake, conducting the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra are next on stage for a haunting set of traditional arias and songs. Lior explains that these songs felt as though they were meant to be played outdoor like this.

The final act is Sarah Blasko who revisited her 2009 album As Day Follows Night, finishing on a very chilled out vibe.

Headline photo: Lior, Nigel Westlake and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra