WOMADelaide Reveals First Artist Lineup for 2026 Festival
Legendary First Nations act Yothu Yindi headline the four-day festival, celebrating 35 years of their classic album Tribal Voice.
Image Samuel Graves
The first batch of WOMADelaide 2026 artists have been revealed, with iconic First Nations group Yothu Yindi headlining the four-day festival.
Organisers have announced the first 49 artists set to take the WOMAD stages next year at Adelaide’s Botanic Park/Tainmuntilla over the long weekend from Friday 6 to Monday 9 March 2026.
Yothu Yindi top the bill, with the group celebrating 35 years of their classic album Tribal Voice, so punters can expect to hear tracks from the album along with songs from the group’s extensive catalogue.
WOMAD 2026 also features London-based Afro-funk innovator Obongjayar, the sublime Marlon Williams, complete with Kapa Haka group Ngā Mātai Pūrua, R&B sensation Jalen Ngonda, Cuban Grammy-nominee and former Buena Vista Social Club member Roberto Fonseca, and the festival’s first Bhutanese artists, Bhutan Balladeers.
These artists join the already announced Yolngu rapper and dancer Baker Boy, American singer-songwriter Iron & Wine, Irish folk band Beoga and ABC’s Pacific Break winner Mantis from Vanuatu.
Other artists performing at the festival include all-female Gnawa group Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou (Morocco), Troy Cassar-Daley (AUS) accompanied by a string quartet, Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy (Ghana), Jyoty (UK), Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek (Turkiye), GANNA (Ukraine) and La Perla (Colombia).
Check out the full lineup so far and grab your tickets for WOMADelaide 2026 via womadelaide.com.au.
Returning for its 29th edition next year, WOMADelaide is more than just music; it’s a fully immersive festival experience that includes workshops, world cuisine and enthralling programs and events including stunning trampoline and tightrope work by French dance-circus Cie Hors Surface — Le poids des Nuages & HOME and a residency by Born in a Taxi (AUS), presenting five different roving shows.
2026 will see the return of WOMAD favourites Taste the World – where artists are invited to cook dishes from home, the WoMarkets, with over 40 retail stores, Planet Talks sessions discussing the environmental issues facing the world, The Sanctuary Restaurant at Adelaide Zoo and the KidZone.
WOMADelaide Director, Ian Scobie, says, “Few festivals in the world are able to showcase the breadth and diversity of music, arts and dance from across the globe, especially on such a large scale, while appealing to audiences of all ages and tastes. WOMADelaide is a glorious opportunity to discover new sounds that are soon to be favourites and embrace artists you love.”
Minister for Tourism South Australia, Zoe Bettison, adds, “WOMADelaide is one of the most popular and revered festivals in the country, loved not only by South Australians but people from all over the world. It highlights world-class artists and a full festival experience, while attracting visitors to the state, and filling hotel rooms and restaurants.”
WOMADelaide is held on Kaurna Land at Botanic Park/Tainmuntilla from Friday 6 March to Monday 9 March. Tickets on sale now via womadeliade.com.
WOMADElaide 2026 First Artist Lineup Announcement
Åkervinda (Sweden)
Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy (Ghana)
Annahstasia (USA)
Any Young Mechanic (AUS)
Ashkan Shafiei (Iran/AUS)
Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou (Morocco)
Australian Art Orchestra with Kojoe & Hikaru Tanaka — Raw Denshi (Japan/AUS)
Baker Boy (AUS)
Balaganesan & Bageswari (India)
BARKAA (AUS)
Beoga (Ireland)
Bhutan Balladeers (Bhutan)
Blinky Bill (Kenya)
Bobby Alu (Samoa/AUS)
Born in a Taxi – Higher Order, Illuminati, Please Wait Here, Sleep Keepers & Zebras (AUS)
BVT (Phillipines/AUS)
Chloe Loftus Dance – The Air Between Us (NZ/Belgium)
Cie Hors Surface — Le poids des Nuages & HOME, Damien Droin (France)
Crazy P (DJ set) (UK)
Daughters of Donbas (Ukraine/Canada)
Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek (Turkiye)
Džambo Aguševi Orchestra (Macedonia)
Ganavya (India/USA)
GANNA (Ukraine)
Iron & Wine (USA)
Jalen Ngonda (USA/UK)
Jyoty (UK)
Kankawa Nagarra (AUS)
La Perla (Colombia)
The Lazy Eyes (AUS)
Lewis Major Projects – Triptych REDUX (AUS)
MĀ (NZ)
Mantis (Vanuatu)
Marlon Williams (NZ)
Maryam Rahmani (Iran/AUS)
My Chérie (South Africa/AUS)
Nattali Rize (AUS/Jamaica)
Obongjayar (Nigeria/UK)
Orange Blossom (France)
Osadía (Spain)
Roberto Fonseca (Cuba)
Rosas – Rosas danst Rosas, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker (Belgium)
Sama' Abdulhadi (Palestine)
Stan's Café – Of All The People In All The World & The Commentators (UK)
Troy Cassar-Daley (AUS)
Xylourides (Greece)
Yothu Yindi (AUS)
Yuka Okazaki (Japan/France)
The Zawose Queens (Tanzania)
