By Vestnik Kavkaza
The WOMAD international festival of world music will will be held in Russia for the first time in Kislovodsk on 21-22 September 2013. Festival guests will have the opportunity to listen to ethnic music, but also to experience the unique culture of many peoples of the world, to try their national dishes. The rich culture of the North Caucasus will be included in the festival program, and the region will be able to present it in all of its diversity.
“The city of Kislovodsk, is also a landmark, a historic place, back in tsarist times it was a spa resort, today it is probably the most well-developed center of tourism in the North Caucasus and the sunniest place in Russia. That is, with plenty of sunshine, stable weather and the time of September is just a velvet season, when it is not hot, there are lots of fruit, green grass,” Andrey Kataev, General Director of the foundation "Visit the Caucasus", says. “The very place we have chosen is in the suburbs of Kislovodsk, a ten-minute drive from Kislovodsk, on the way to the Honey Falls, where all sorts of points of small-scale tourism are located. And horse farms. And Kislovodsk itself. Mount Rome. You can go north to Mount Elbrus. The place that, we hope...it is so beautiful and popular... but due to the festival will be become even brighter. And the festival itself will give a push to promote tourism to the audience who will come, the guests of the festival, guests of the region, so that they look at the Caucasus and see it in a completely new way. will give a kick as well to the development of small businesses in tourism, transport.”
According to Kataev, “due to the fact that WOMAD has world history, a world-wide reputation, and it has its fans and followers, who travel from festival to festival, it will be a point of attraction for international tourism, and foreign tourists will arrive in the North Caucasus region.”
Speaking about the program, Kataev stated that they would gather the cream of Russian ethnic music. “And of course it will be filled with the Caucasus, i.e. creative teams from the Caucasus will be present, Caucasian cuisine, Caucasian hospitality. That is, it will all be very heartfelt, tasty and interesting. The festival will have three stages, plus crafts village, plus master classes, plus a variety of kitchens from the Caucasus and beyond. We are doing a great camp, and there will be an opportunity to come to stay with your tent, where the conditions will be created: water and lighting, toilets. We plann a large car park. And of course, from the point of view of tourism, there will be organized possibilities to visit all the attractions around the festival area,” Kataev promises.
“For the North Caucasus it is not just a musical event,” Elena Bubnova, Director, Head of Strategic Development and External Relations of the Corporation for the development of the North Caucasus, says. “This is a presentation of the North Caucasus, all of its beauty, natural resources, and opportunities. We hope that the guests of the festival will stay for at least another few days in the area, as in general it corresponds to the experience of WOMAD. According to their statistics, guests spend a minimum of 4 days in the area after the festival, to drive, enjoy the scenery, for sightseeing. Also, according to statistics of the festival, up to 80% of the guests return to the place of the festival again. Therefore, our task is to attract these guests to stay in the North Caucasus region, to show it in its best colors, with all of its opportunities.”
Telling Vestnik Kavkaza about the cooperation of the Corporation for the development of the North Caucasus with the festival WOMAD, Bubnova said: “Our collaboration started with our sister company "North Caucasian mountain club." It was their staff who has known the WOMAD festival from before, they told us about this wonderful festival. The idea caught on immediately. Absolutely everyone liked their image of a kind festival, that it is a family event, it is not like other festivals. And we started to work on it. Since last autumn we have been working on this idea.”
