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Wind over WOMAD
It's another beautiful day at WOMAD and there is a refreshing breeze to help us recover from the sauna of the past few days! We're still buzzing after the dubbed-up tango and spell-binding sounds of the mighty Gotan Project, who headlined the Siam Tent last night.
In the early hours of this morning, our tent was packed full of hungry festival goers eagerly queuing up for hot paninis. Today we're looking for angry people to photograph for our 'how angry are you about poverty' competition (hard for the chilled out, grinning WOMAD people to do but they're managing it!).
Highlights of today's line up include the 15 strong rhythm force samba reggae band 'Batucada Sound Machine' - a crescendo of spicy Latin lines, hip hop and trumpets! Tonight, Ska Cubana will get the party started in true mambo style on the Open Air Stage, followed by the African legend Femi Kuti. But for now, it's time to relax on a bean bag and watch the WOMAD world go by...
posted at 2:24 PM
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WOMAD in the sun
The sounds of Africa are playing in the distance, the sun is shining, the aroma of exotic foods is drifting over: a myriad of cultures to tempt all the senses - we've just arrived at WOMAD. Our lovely team of campaigners are out in the main arena gathering support for the Make Trade Fair Campaign. In our tent people are relaxing on beanbags and sipping fair trade coffee whilst giant jenga tumbles to the ground! In the background the carousel is spinning and the fun fair is in full swing! It's another wonderful year at the WOMAD. We are off to check out Yerba Buena, the Latin American samba band playing on the open-air stage - watch this space for photos and more updates!
posted at 3:13 PM
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Extreme sports and charity: a match made in NASS heaven
 For those of you who don't know it NASS (the National Adventure Sports Show) is a weekend festival packed full of yep, you guessed it, extreme sports. There's skateboarding, snowboarding, BMX-ing and live music - expect DJs, breaks, beats and metal heads.
We had such a laugh at NASS 2005 that we just had to come back - and I don't think we're going to be disappointed. This year NASS reaches the ripe old age of ten and to celebrate, none other than legends Tony Hawk (above) and Matt Hoffman will be demoing on the Saturday and Sunday - sure to be the highlight amongst the 20,000 strong crowd of extreme sports dudes who will be descending on Birmingham National Exhibition Centre this weekend (29th & 30th July).
Once the day is over and everyone is all skateboarded out they can leave all their heavy equipment with us in our Bike and Boards stall whilst they browse our exhibition - all about the causes of poverty and suffering and how we can work together to overcome these, sign our Millennium Development Goals petition asking for health and education for all, and marvel at our 1960's campervan (very popular last year).
Tickets are still available by calling 0870 120 0723
posted at 1:13 PM
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WOMAD brings the world together again
 The World of Music, Arts and Dance festival - better known as WOMAD - is back once again (not with the renegade master, however) and we will be there stewarding festival-goers around the site, selling clothes and Rakhi bands on our stall and campaigning to raise awareness for our Make Trade Fair campaign.
As the name suggests the performers featured come from all over the world so, whilst you may not have heard of some of them, this festival certainly makes a refreshing change from the usual. My personal favourites (after a bit of research) are The Mahotella Queens from South Africa, Wang Ki Soek - a Korean singer who sings a whole opera on his own to the sound of a single drum - and DJ Mr Bongo, whose unique Brazilian beats and grooves can be found in his hip Soho record store right here in England. What's more, if any of these performers inspire you there's an opportunity to meet them at one of the many workshops taking place over the weekend to learn about their instruments and their way of life.
If the music isn't enough there is of course a whole array of other things going on throughout the weekend. You can tone up in the Yoga class, drink in the theatrical Saloon style bar, meet traditional Indian painters, polish up those olis on the skate ramp, rave the night away at Club WOMAD, spend all your money in the Global Village, see a traditional sacred xylophone (pictured) and eat food from all around the world at The WOMAD Foundation, and then come and chill out with us in our marquee located in the 32 acre field.
Tickets for this years event at Rivermead in Reading are still available from the WOMAD Box Office. Call 0118 939 0930
Children under 13 go free but must be accompanied by an adult.
posted at 3:00 PM
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Lovebox: Loveblog
The Oxfam campervan trundled across to Victoria Park in London last Friday for the Lovebox Weekender. With a bigger site, headliners Groove Armada and Jamiroquai, and an increased capacity, this is one festival that Yazz could well have been thinking about when they sang "The only way is up". Err, but enough about 80s pop.
For one weekend Victoria Park (in Hackney, east London) was transformed into an eclectic festival site, with mini-stages featuring the likes of the Insect Circus, burlesque dance and pirate shows, fairground rides, all the different types of festival food you could imagine, and one massive main stage with quality music (and our Oxfam banners) on from midday until late.
We were in the London Soul area, a laid-back zone with a beautiful atmosphere and one message: have a lush weekend! And next to us was the metres and metres of white-washed temporary walls which over the two days were gradually filled up by graffiti artists - the end result was incredible.
So finally we were able to get our lovely 1961 campervan and our brand new exhibition together at a festival - and they looked fantastic. People could see our massive "YOU CAN BEAT POVERTY" sign from all over the site. As ever, we had a tip-top team of volunteer campaigners who were on-hand to talk to festival-goers about Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign, and our work to overcome poverty, which has to involve everyone. Including you!
Look at more pics from Lovebox >>
posted at 4:54 PM
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Lovebox: lovely photos and angry faces
We've just got back from the Lovebox Weekender - and an awesome weekend it was too. We've got a lovely little photo story to help you relive those happy memories (or gaze in envy at another festival missed) and we've also collected dozens of angry Lovebox faces, raging about the injustice of global poverty (and trying to win a year's worth of music, too). More updates and a proper review real soon, promise.
posted at 4:02 PM
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Campaigning at Y Sesiwn Fawr
Just wanted to update you on the festival some of our lovely campaigners in Wales went to at the weekend. Y Sesiwn Fawr translates as The Mighty Session, and pretty mighty it was too. The beautiful town of Dolgellau is entirely given over to this event, staged on Friday night and right throughout Saturday. The surroundings of the Snowdonia National Park make for a unique festival experience, and the relaxed atmosphere of the chill out field and acoustic tent behind the main stages was a welcome relief from the mania accompanying Goldie Lookin Chain, The Poppies, The Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain, Amy Wadge, Hayseed Dixie and former Gorky's frontman Euros Childs, among others...
A massive thanks goes to Rhydian James who came to help us campaign - with his help we managed to get over 250 people to say "I'm in" and show how much they care about ending poverty.
posted at 5:33 PM
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