Co-founder Peter Gabriel was inspired by world music which led him to the idea of a festival geared towards introducing "an international audience to many talented artists." One of the goals of WOMAD is to educate various cultures to other cultures through music, arts, and dance through performance events, music releases and educational workshops. "Music is a universal language, it draws people together and proves as well as anything, the stupidity of racism."

Amen. The first WOMAD made its presence in 1982 in the UK. Now, WOMAD is known for its nomadic nature, occurring in North America, South Africa, Japan, Australia, and in several European countries each year. This year we were blessed that the WOMAD USA was able to encamp itself once again in Redmond's Marymoor Park for the fourth year in a row. Rumors were afloat that the multicultural music festival was to be a no go here in the Northwest. Thankfully, in April King County Executive Ron Sims announced that WOMAD was to happen after all, having completed negotiations on a new deal that called for the three-day festival at Marymoor Park this year and the option for a similar deal in 2002 and 2003. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

From live performances to interactive workshops, WOMAD provided a perfect medium to create awareness of the value of a multicultural society through the universal language of music. From beginning to end, the Northwest was honored to have such priceless musical and artistic gems right in its backyard with the Brazilian rhythms and capoeira of Amizade; the sweet, hot-buttered soul of Isaac Hayes; the spirit-roving gospel of The Blind Boys of Alabama on Friday; the multimedia Paint Battle with Jane's Addiction's drummer Stephen Perkins; the beautiful harmonies of the Arabic/African/French band Lo'Jo; the amazing digital feat of Chemirani Zarb Trio on Saturday; the soothing spaciousness of France's Julien Jacob's set, and an acoustic performance from Peter Gabriel (to name but a few).