Madison World Music Festival to be held Sept. 15-17

Following the success of last year’s World Music Festival, this year’s festival will be held on campus from Thursday, Sept. 15-Saturday, Sept. 17, with encore performances by three of the groups at the Willy Street Fair on Sunday, Sept. 18.

This year’s lineup will feature prominent artists and bands from around the world as well as student and community dance and music groups representing many different cultures. All performances are free and open to the public. Unless otherwise noted, the shows are all on the Union Terrace and in the Wisconsin Union Theater at the UW–Madison Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St.

It’s no surprise that the festival is happening in Madison, says Ronnie Hess, director of communications for the UW–Madison Division of International Studies, a festival sponsor.

“Madison and the UW are very musical and very cosmopolitan,” she says. “From its beginnings as a major public university, UW–Madison has recognized the importance of studying the world’s languages and cultures, and of welcoming international students to campus.”

According to Hess, UW has the capacity to teach more than 65 languages and has the largest number of federally funded national resource centers in the U.S. providing information on virtually every region of the world. Each year, 1,600 UW–Madison students study abroad and more than 3,500 international students enroll at UW–Madison.

Adds Bob Queen, Marquette Neighborhood Association event coordinator and Madison World Music Festival committee member: “There is a great opportunity for the whole city to get involved and build excitement for this mid-September event. The Willy Street Fair’s involvement is a nice step in eventually spreading the exhilaration of world music from campus to our clubs, theaters, neighborhood festivals and schools.”

The festival’s executive committee includes representatives from the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s theater, student performance and music committees; Wisconsin Union Theater; Latin American, Iberian and Caribbean Studies; Division of International Studies; International Student Services; and 89.9 FM-WORT community radio station.

Other sponsors include the UW–Madison School of Music; the Anonymous Fund; the Isthmus; Madison mayor’s office; Associated Students of Madison; Wisconsin International Student Association; Multicultural Student Association; Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission; Marquette Neighborhood Association; H&M; General Beverage; and der Rathskeller.

Madison’s World Music Festival is being held in conjunction with Chicago’s World Music Festival, organized through the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Bloomington, Ind.-based Lotus World Music Festival.