This year should have been an unmitigated high for Womadelaide: riding into 2024 on the crest of last year’s unprecedented crowds, a record number of four-day passes sold this year, and a lineup stacked with heavy hitters including José González, Corinne Bailey Rae, Ziggy Marley, Morcheeba, Baaba Maal, Seun Kuti and Nitin Sawhney.
But as the festival approached, Womadelaide was making noise for all the wrong reasons. First, a campaign from the Australian Friends of Palestine against Marley’s inclusion, citing his attendance at a 2018 fundraiser for the Israel Defense Forces.
