Paloma Faith, Baaba Maal and Toumani Diabaté to play Womad Abu Dhabi

Line-up for world music festival announced.

Toumani Diabaté will be one of the guests performing at Womad Abu Dhabi in April.

The Jamiacan ska and reggae star Jimmy Cliff and the British singer-songwriter Paloma Faith are among 22 acts lined up for the third Abu Dhabi Womad music festival next week.

The festival, organised by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, will take place at the Abu Dhabi Corniche on April 7-9 and at Al Jahili Fort on April 7-8.

As well as performances by some of the world’s top musicians, this year’s event will feature workshops for children and adults and cooking demonstrations by the artists.

Faith will perform on the first day of the festival on the Corniche, as well as the Senegalese master-guitarist and singer Baaba Maal, Khaira Arby; the Colombian salsa band LA-33; The Maganiyar Seduction by Roysten Abel, featuring musicians from India; Orchestre National de Barbes from Paris; and the Dhol Foundation, a bhangra-playing group.

Baaba Maal and LA-33 will also hold workshops that provide insights into their cultural inspirations, musical influences and the stories behind the songs.

At Al Jahili Fort, the opening day performers include the Franco-Moroccan singer Hindi Zahra; Tarab Al Emarat from the UAE; the Malian artist Toumani Diabate playing the kora, a west African harp; the Egyptian folk group El Tanbura; the Cameroonian musician Muntu Valdo; Aurelio Martinez from Honduras; and a workshop on Jamaican street dance by Ripton Lindsay.

Jimmy Cliff will perform on the second day of the festival at the Corniche along with Omar Bashir & Group, Aurelio Martinez, Terem Quartet, Toumani Diabate and Afro Celt Sound System, whose name refects their origins. There will also be workshops by Muntu Valdo and the group Speed Caravan.

Alongside the music will be  “Taste The World”  sessions during which some of the artists will demonstrate how to cook their favourite national dish as well as give impromptu musical performances and answer questions from the audience, who will also be able to sample the dishes.

The second show at Al Ain will feature shows by Khaira Arby; the oud player Khyam Allami; the Pakistan sufi musician Sain Zahoor; Baaba Maal; the Dhol Foundation, and a workshop by Ripton Lindsay.

The closing day of  the festival will see Sain Zahoor, El Tanbura, Hindi Zahra, Goran Bregovic, Talab Al Emarat, Omar Bashir & Group and Speed Caravan per forming at the Corniche, with workshops by Ripton Lindsay and Aurelio Martinez, and the final “Taste The World” session, hosted by Khaira Arby.