Around Jan-March is usually a busy and interesting time in Adelaide with things like the Adelaide Festival (not this year though), the Fringe Festival, the Tour Down Under, Melvofest, The Adelaide International Film Festival, WOMADelaide, Big Day Out, state elections (yes, I find elections interesting, but we already had that last year so not until 2010 for the next one) …. so I intend to blog about a few of this which are happening this year. As you can see I’ve already started on theTDU, I won’t bother with the BDO since I find the lineup to be quite lacklustre (a shame, I was looking forward to it after last year’s was so good), don’t know much about the Fringe yet – which has just changed to every year instead of every two years.

So I’ll start with WOMAD. I’ve only been to that once because it is pretty pricey – but that isn’t to say it’s a rip-off. The one time I did go was very enjoyable. This year I definitely plan to go , quite possibly for all three days. The lineup is here.

A few highlights for me:

– I’d love to see the Kronos Quartet, they are playing with Bollywood star Asha Bhosle and Wu Man (jeez, it’s a shame Brett Lee will be in the West Indies for the World Cup or he could have joined in)

– I’ve heard lots of good things about Gotan Project

– Femi Kuti, son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti.

– Sambasunda: an Indonesian gamelan orchestra, that is something I have to see

– Shivkumar and Rahul Sharma in a father and son santoor showdown, the santoor being a 100 string instrument apparently.

There are more announcements to come (some reggae would be good!).