WOMAD 2025 - Line Up - Further Announcements

Photo: WOMAD Aotearoa / FedPagola

WOMAD Aotearoa have just announced four more dynamic artists to next year's lineup. 

These include organic-electronic feminist songs from West Africa’s Nana Benz Du Togo, Melbourne's art-rock pioneers Not Drowning, Waving, who are reuniting with acclaimed Papua New Guinean artist George Telek, Also on the bill, O, a London-based baritone saxophonist and drummer duo, and Protoje, the Jamaican artist blending hip hop, soul, and jazz with reggae and dance hall rhythms with his band The Indiggnation.

In addition to the music, the festival offers a range of cultural and intellectual experiences. The Kunming Garden will once again host the World Of Words, featuring poetry slams, author talks, podcasts, and comedy. 

The STEAM Lab will offer fascinating sessions with innovators and visionaries in diverse fields such as marine biology, chocolate making, song creation, and the science of sleep, providing attendees with the opportunity to explore new ideas and challenge the status quo.

So, here we go: 

WOMAD Aotearoa 2025 Festival Line Up

47Soul (Palestine/Jordan) *Amaru Tribe (Australia) * Ana Carla Maza (Cuba) * Bala Desejo (Brazil) * Black Comet (Aotearoa) * CHAII (Aotearoa) * Delgres (France/Guadeloupe) * Etran de’Lair (Niger) * Goran Bregović & his Wedding & Funeral Band (Bosnia/Herzegovina) * Nana Benz Du Togo (Togo) * Nitin Sawhney (UK) * Not Drowning, Waving + Telek (Australia/Papua New Guinea) * O. (UK) * Protoje  & The Indiggnation (Jamaica) * Queen Omega (Trinidad & Tobago) * Róisín Murphy (Ireland) * Satish Vyas & U Rajesh (India) * Talisk (Scotland) * The Beths (Aotearoa) * The Veils & NZTrio (Aotearoa) * Ukulele Death Squad (Australia) * Who Shot Scott (Aotearoa/Iraq) 

Photo: WOMAD Aotearoa / Amanda Senior

WOMAD Aotearoa 2025 World Of Words Speakers 

Bariz Shah (Author - Beyond Hope – From an Auckland Prison to Changing Lives in Afghanistan) * Craig Hoyle (Author - Excommunicated) * Courtney Dawson (Comedian) * Emily King (Author 0 Re-food - Exploring the troubled food system of Aotearoa New Zealand.) * Jared Savage (Author - Gangland and Gangster’s Paradise) * Joana Joy (Comedian) * Lauren Keenan (BOOK CLUB - Author - The Space Between) * Leah Dodd (Poetry Slam) * Morgana O'Reilly (Showy Ovaries Podcast Guest) * Penny Ashton (Poetry Slam/Showy Ovaries Podcast) * Tusiata Avia (Poetry Slam).

Photo: WOMAD Aotearoa / Amanda Senior

WOMAD Aotearoa 2025 STEAM Lab Speakers 

Anne Gaskett (Biologist) * Frau Knotz (Electronica Artist)  * Dr. Greg Holwell (Naturalist, Zoologist and Behavioural Ecologist) *  Liv Sisson (Author -  Fungi of Aotearoa: A Curious Forager’s Field Guide)  * Maddi Brown (Wellington Chocolate Factory) * Matt Williams (Wellington Chocolate Factory) * Michael Mansvelt (Author - Everyday Opulence) *  Professor Emeritus Philippa Gande (Author - Early Birds and Night Owls) * Rochelle Constantine (Professor of Marine Ecology and Conservation Biology) * Sam Johnson.

For more information head to: www.womad.co.nz