WOMADelaide 2026 has now announced its complete lineup, with 69 groups from 38 countries set to perform at Botanic Park this March for the annual celebration of global music and dance. Among this diverse program are numerous performers connected to France and the Francophonie, ranging from innovative circus-dance troupes and aerial choreographers to Grammy-winning musicians and human rights advocates. These groups from, or with links to, France and the Francophonie showcase everything from Moroccan Gnawa music and Ukrainian folk traditions to Belgian post-modern dance and Japanese-French instrumental compositions. Here are the ten groups with French and Francophone connections performing at WOMADelaide 2026.
Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou (Morocco)
PLAYING DAYS: Sunday & Monday
Breaking barriers as Morocco’s inaugural female practitioner of Gnawa music, Asmâa Hamzaoui leads a revolutionary movement of women entering this historically male-dominated evangelistic desert blues tradition. Her all-female ensemble Bnat Timbouktou delivers hypnotic performances centered around Hamzaoui’s commanding vocals and skilled guembri (a plucked lute) playing, accompanied by rhythmic percussion rhythms. This sacred-secular musical practice combines ceremonial musical elements with healing rituals and has earned UNESCO recognition as protected intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
While honouring traditional forms, Hamzaoui is expanding the reach of Gnawa through international festival appearances across Europe, from Denmark to Spain to Finland.
Chloe Loftus Dance – The Air Between Us (NZ/Belgium)
PLAYING: Every day
This remarkable aerial dance collaboration unites New Zealand’s acclaimed choreographer Chloe Loftus with Belgian dancer-choreographer Florent Devlesaver for an exploration of connection and equilibrium. The duo—with Devlesaver performing from his wheelchair—ascends through aerial choreography that examines how we find balance and harmony together, moving like celestial bodies attracted to each other’s energy.
Born in Italy and raised in New Zealand, Loftus spent years as an international freelance performer after relocating to Britain in 1997, eventually establishing her own company in 2005. Upon returning home in 2016, she partnered with Devlesaver, who discovered dance following a work-related injury at 17 left him wheelchair bound.
Cie Hors Surface – Le poids des Nuages & HOME, Damien Droin (France)
PERFORMING: Every Day
These extraordinary acrobatic works embody human aspiration and resilience through trampoline-based performance. Founded in Toulon by Damien Droin in 2011, Hors Surface represents contemporary circus arts at their finest, merging athletic prowess with poetic imagery that transcends traditional boundaries between gymnastics, dance, and circus.
Le poids des Nuages (which means “The weight of the clouds”) examines male relationships while navigating physical and metaphorical territories, raising questions about ego, cooperation, and personal drive. The solo work HOME combines trampoline and tightrope elements in a sensory narrative exploring internal contradictions.
Daughters of Donbas (Ukraine/Canada) AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVE
PLAYING: Saturday and Sunday
This human rights-focused musical initiative titled Daughters of Donbas — Songs of Stolen Children draws attention to over 20,000 Ukrainian children forcibly removed from occupied territories and taken to Russia. Marichka, serving as singer, activist, and war journalist, provides the emotional voice of this string quartet collaboration. Her performance background includes Canadian folk groups Lemon Bucket Orkestra and Balaklava Blues, plus appearances at prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall and the Barbican, and she’s the winner of an Amnesty International Prize. Her approach incorporates Ukrainian traditional music and the distinctive ‘white voice’ singing method produced with an open throat.
Lewis Major Projects – Triptych REDUX (Australia)
PERFORMING: Daily
Self-identifying as a “a dance artist with a background in sheep shearing and a foreground in contemporary dance theatre”, Lewis Major entered the theatrical world later than most, discovering it only in adolescence. Since then, he’s collaborated with internationally renowned choreographers including Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Russell Maliphant, Hofesh Shechter and Aakash Odedra.
Operating from South Australia where he grew up on a rural property, Lewis Major Projects presents this reimagined version of his previous creation Triptych, which Edinburgh Festival audiences praised as “life-changingly beautiful”. His award-winning and critic praised portfolio includes seventeen distinct productions performed across six continents. Lewis Major is based between South Australia and France.
Mantis (Vanuatu)
PLAYING: Saturday
This Ni-Vanuatu rapper, known as Mantis (birth name Ethan-Xavier Hakwa), claimed victory in ABC Radio Australia’s 2025 Pacific Break competition with his commanding performance style. His winning entry ‘Weatherman’ outperformed numerous submissions from across 18 Pacific countries, and addresses climate extremes affecting his region. Performing in three languages —Bislama, French, and English—Mantis channels influences from Kendrick Lamar and US West Coast hip-hop beats.
With Tongan and Papua New Guinean ancestry, Mantis launched his musical journey in 2014 through rap collective Confliction, later releasing his album Personal Therapy while studying in New Zealand. Back in Vanuatu since 2022, he established Kele Productions alongside his former group members.
Orange Blossom (France) AUSTRLAIAN EXCLUSIVE
PLAYING: Sunday and Monday
This Nantes-based quintet, established in 1993, creates fusion soundscapes blending Arab influences with Western styles, merging electronic production with global acoustic traditions. Decades of touring have refined their captivating stage presence, building dedicated international followings.
Released in 2024, their newest recording Spells From the Drunken Sirens showcases signature elements – haunting vocals, propulsive rhythms, and lush string arrangements – while transporting audiences musically across Mali, Egypt and Cuba. This album followed a ten-year gap since Under the Shade of Violets, which achieved French chart success.
Oumou Sangaré (Mali) AUSTRLAIAN EXCLUSIVE
PLAYING: Sunday
Celebrated as ‘the Songbird of Wassoulou’ and Grammy-winning artist, Oumou Sangaré is a global superstar and feminist icon. Her singing style draws from southwestern Mali’s rural folk heritage, interweaving blues, folk and rock elements within African rich rhythmic frameworks.
Through her artistry and uncompromising vocals, Sangaré confronts patriarchal injustices in Malian society, positioning herself at the forefront of feminist activism in her country. She acknowledges the personal risks involved in addressing these controversial topics saying “I dared to tackle this subject first…,” and “even risked my life doing it.
Sangaré’s performance history spans Sydney Opera House, London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan, plus collaborations with Alicia Keys and sampling by Beyoncé. Her magnetic presence, fierce spirit and voice that rises to extraordinary heights, combined with Wassoulou music’s inherent danceability, create unforgettable concert experiences.
Rosas – Rosas danst Rosas, Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker (Belgium) – AUSTRLAIAN EXCLUSIVE
PLAYING: Friday and Saturday
This foundational post-modern dance piece explores the interplay between synchronisation and de-synchronisation through four female dancers performing everyday movements. These recognizable movements have captivated global audiences for over forty years.
The work maintains remarkable contemporary relevance—minimalist, physically demanding, and emotionally resonant—continuing worldwide presentations and notably influencing Beyoncé’s 2011 Countdown music video.
De Keersmaeker, known as ‘the Queen of visionary rigour’, achieved international prominence with this 1983 breakthrough. Since then, her company Rosas has remained at contemporary dance’s forefront, studying the body’s movement through space and time, drawing creative inspiration from mathematical patterns, geometry, and organic forms. Composers Thierry de Mey and Peter Vermeersch developed the musical score in parallel with choreographic development, filling the performance with remarkable energy.
Yuka Okazaki (Japan/France)
PLAYING: Friday and Monday
Performing solo, composer-instrumentalist Yuka Okazaki plays her own symphony. Using clarinet, bass clarinet, metallophone, percussion and melodica, Okazaki bridges classical and electronic sonic instruments to create her own unique sound. Her collaborative work extends across animated film, documentary scoring, museum installations, and performances with dancers, circus artists, and street performers.
Describing her 2022 EP Vers Le Lac Bleu as an invitation to journey to your own distant landscape —a symphonic experience designed to awaken your senses and evoke deep personal memories. Japanese-born and raised among mountains immersed in traditional culture, Okazaki began clarinet studies during middle school before relocating to France in 1987, where she trained under distinguished clarinettist Professor Jacques Lancelot.
These ten acts represent just a fraction of the 69 artists performing at WOMADelaide 2026. The complete festival lineup offers even more diverse sounds and performances from across the globe.
KEY INFO FOR WOMADelaide 2026
WHAT: WOMADelaide 2026 – World of Music and Dance –
WHERE: Botanic Park, Adelaide
WHEN: Friday 6 – Monday 9 March 2026
HOW: Purchase your tickets via the website here
HOW MUCH: Ticket prices depend on how many days you want to attend the festival. For all pricing check out the website.
NOTE: Early bird pricing ends on 17 December 2025
