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in their sixties now, the colourful women wowed the crowd once again with their funky mbaqanga rhythms and wild mqashiyo dance routines, aided by a fine band smoothly churning out the pulse of Soweto and the melodies from the melting pot of South Africa. Bollywood songstress Asha Bhosle joined the Kronos Quartet, Chinese pipa player Wu Man and Zakir Hussain (tablas & trap drums) in a special show combining the 73 year old singer's eternal voice, wild string-work and exotic percussion.

Two groups played music that evoked the wide landscapes of their respective homelands, with Mali-based Etran Finatawa creating a melodious camel train rolling across the Saharan desert sands, while the Tuva-Russian throat-singing ensemble Huun-Huur-Tu conjured up visions of the steppe and their sheep-herding past. Celenod had a nave and tentative presentation which showed the crowd aspects of its Kanaka culture, in a cheery and unsophisticated manner. Nigerian Femi Kuti & The Positive Force fired up the Afrobeat of his late father Fela Anikulapo, his searing sax-lines bouncing off the effervescent beats of talking drum, bass and kit, while his vivacious dancers were very, very hot! Somewhat esoteric the so-called "the new wave of tango chic" produced by The Gotan Project, was lost on me, as were the projected images which would have looked better in a theatre. Lnasa from Ireland, had the jigs and reels flying with its Celtic influenced instrumentals, the flutes of Kevin Crawford and Cillian Vallely's uilleann pipes pouring a fluid stream of sweet airs onto the adoring public. Bandung gamelan group SambaSunda, pooled the sounds of Sunda, Java and Bali spiced it with some violin, electric guitar, bass and djembe. Mandingo maestro Salif Keita was a sacred white lion prowling the stage, his soaring voice catapulted into the Sunday night sky on the rhythmic wings of Malian music from his fastidious band. Fabulous food stalls, info booths displaying work by charitable, environmental and cultural organisations, a kidzone and various roving performers added to the atmosphere. And there was much, much more I did not see and hear at this most wonderful of festivals.

Learn more about this author, Peter Dawson.
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