WOMADelaide makes music with Internode
Dubbed WOMADelaide, WOMAD returns to the Botanic Park from Friday, March 9, to Monday, March 12. Attracting total attendance of nearly 90,000 for the 2011 event, the WOMAD (World of Music Arts and Dance) festival is a highlight on the Adelaide entertainment calendar, generating an energetic, exciting and colourful vibe. WOMAD was first held in Adelaide in March 1992.
Internode, which is also celebrating the 20th anniversary of its own founding, has chosen this year to become the major sponsor of WOMADelaide 2012.
WOMAD marketing manager Nicola Prime described WOMAD's association with Internode as "brilliant". "Internode's reputation, its history and its national presence are great for WOMAD," she said.
"Internode will have a big presence at WOMAD 2012, which is our 20th anniversary event, with an Internode lounge and WiFi hotspots around Botanic Park. Internode's managing director Simon Hackett is as passionate about the event as we are."
The global WOMAD event series was co-founded by Peter Gabriel in the UK in 1980. Simon Hackett's personal links with WOMAD include visiting the UK several times in the "ISDN era" to connect Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios to the Internet and involvement with some Internet-related multimedia events held by the studio. Simon has attended most WOMADelaide festivals as well as some of the WOMAD events in the UK.
Internode's sponsorship of WOMADelaide is the company's latest investment in supporting some of Adelaide's major arts events. Internode has previously sponsored the Adelaide Fringe and the Adelaide Film Festival.
The WOMAD sponsorship aligns Internode's environmental values to an event with impeccable green credentials. Internode has been carbon neutral since 2008 and uses 100% GreenPower throughout its own data centres. Although it takes over Botanic Park for four days, WOMAD leaves no lasting impact on the physical environmental through a largely "green" audience and the work of committed volunteers who keep the parklands pristine during and after the event.
Simon Hackett said WOMAD was a great event for Internode to sponsor. "Internode connects people to the world around them through the Internet," he said. "WOMAD connects people through music, arts and dance. With the Internet having become such an enabler for the sharing of music and vision for the world, it's a great alignment, a great event and it'll be a lot of fun as well."
Internode's sponsorship of WOMAD 2012 also incorporates next month's WOMAD Earth Station event, a three-day festival at SA's beautiful Belair National Park from Friday, October 21, to Sunday, October 23. With 19 groups and 90 artists, the event aims to explore our relationship with the planet accompanied by extraordinary music from around the world. The weekend will also incorporate a series of talks by leading scientists, academics, writers and thinkers as part of The Planet Talks program.
