Womad organiser says it had little choice but to cancel

The organisers of Womad New Zealand say the decision to cancel the festival in March has been devastating for artists and crew, but they had little choice. Suzanne Porter, the chief executive of the Taranaki Arts Festival Trust, which puts on the festival in New Plymouth, spoke to RNZ Taranaki Whanganui reporter Robin Martin. He began by asking what proved the final straw for the 2022 festival. Womad 2023 will be the 20th anniversay of the festival in New Zealand. Wellington's Homegrown festival also announced its cancellation on Wednesday. The New Zealand-music-focused festival also had to cancel in 2020, due to the first Covid-19 lockdown.