Taking my almost three year old grandson to Womad
'The advantages of taking more than one child to festivals.'
Photo of Rose and Santi by Marlon Rouse Tavares
I have been going to Womad for years. I went to the first one in the show ground at Shepperton Mallet. In 1982, this was a new kind of a mixture of a festival with its Burundi Drummers, Don Cherry, Rip Rig and Panic, Echo and the Bunnymen plus great world food. World of Music, Arts and Dance. We were really for it. However, it wasn’t to really get going for a few years after that.
Accompanied by friends – one of the absolute biggies was Gil Scot Heron in 2010… unmissable – and more recently, my partner, I boogied to everyone from DakhaBrakha before the world knew about them, to and Malian legend, Salif Keita. Discovery of new music was the thing. Such a delight.
In 2024, I went with my son, then 38, for the first time. Marlon loved it. We had a dance up to Mexican wild men, Son Rompe who mix punk more with traditional marimba sounds. We were transfixed by The Fall Out Marching Band – they are always part of the traditional Womad procession - who told fascinating stories about their squat days that I related to, and cooked a squatter’s supper in the Taste the World Tent.
And we dreamt of bringing his son/my grandson who was then almost one, and his partner, the next time. And perhaps some of our friends coming along so we could be a Womad gang. That next year, Womad didn’t happen. They were looking for a new site.
So here we were in 2026 and my grandson, Santi was almost three. Time for festival action. We told the Mellings in Bristol. Marlon had grown up with my friend, Lizzie’s sons, as brothers. Now one of them had two sons. And we did all manage to meet up on the Saturday for festival kid capers and more.
Photo of Leon and Max plus Santi and Marlon by Rose Rouse
Womad really is the ideal location for families – although there are serious child wagon traffic jams, you know all those spectacularly decorated little carts which turn up at festivals and are very useful when parents want to dance or listen to music – because people are not drinking or getting wasted and the facilities are orientated towards kids as well as adults. Fish Finger Heaven, for instance.
And there is a Kids Area which is pulsing with crazy activities. A giant marionette dancing. Noisy table tennis. Small tables. A clay area for making – Santi and his parents made a dinosaur head with long tresses which was accompanied by eggs. There was a fiddler in a wonderful Green Man outfit on stilts that the children surrounded. And a music workshop where they could try out real instruments.
Photo of the stilt men by Rose Rouse
On our first evening – after blueberry and lime and coconut ice creams – we danced to Annie and the Caldwells who are the most magnificent soul disco divas from Mississippi who I discovered on Jools Holland’s Later and was determined to witness them live. And witness is the right term. God is very much part of the mix. By this time, Santi was supposed to be sitting on one of his parent’s shoulders but insisted on dive bombing unexpectedly and frequently. And we were wagonless!
When the Mellings turned up the next day – Lizzie was adorned in her own pink and white
lily head dress – the Kids Area took on a new dimension. There was playing with mini skate boards but the triumph was three and a half year old Leon going half way up the climbing tower. Quite a feat. Meanwhile his 20 month old brother looked on with doleful eyes.
Leon and Santi had never really hung out together. This was the ideal opportunity. They are both mischievous little boys and they both found pieces of wood that became play weapons. Fortunately, the pieces of wood were mostly held in their hand, and there was a lot of running around together, throwing themselves at the ground and guffawing. We had to keep our eye on them as they were wont to disappear into the crowd but once we found them a lime tree, they ran around that. For hours. While the younger Otis simply followed them around when he could.
Photo of Santi and Leon under the lime tree by Rose Rouse
The joy of more kids was more freedom for the parents. We found ourselves – getting cold, we couldn’t believe it as it was so hot the day before, Lizzie and I went off and bought a poncho and a woollen scarf plus had tea on the top deck inside of a red double decker bus to get warm – watching the Congolese band, Jupiter and Okwess on the main stage. The parents and the grandparents could actually have a bit of rave up because the small ones were occupied with each other. The advantages of taking more than one child to festivals.
I thought all this running around was going to end up in tears but at 10 30pm, they were dancing with maximum energy in the salsa tent. We eventually had to drag them away. They were exhausted but refusing to give in when such fun was being had. And we all got to see the trees in their coloured night light splendour.
I hope the Mellings-meet up becomes a tradition and I’m trying to get more of my own family to come along and bring toddler Oscar who is my great nephew.
Mixtanena in the Real Ale Tent by Rose Rouse
Oh and I have to mention a couple of highlights. One was the blue grass band from South Korea who were cooking and playing in Taste the World tent. And the other was Mixantena de Cecilia, a Mexican marching band who play boleras and cumbias. We were just watching them in the Big Top when the Mellings arrived so we went off to meet them instead. However, we happened upon the bandin the Real Ale bar playing a spontaneous gig amongst the crowd. There are eleven of them – a full horn section – which also includes the ram’s horns dancer and Ramon, the black bull who comes out to fight and dance. These were absolutely golden moments. Plus Santi and Leon both got to sit on the back of the small bull!
Let’s hope Santi wants to go again…
Photo of Lizzie and Rose in warm clothing by Marlon Rouse Tavares