THE ISLAND’S very own world music festival brought a bright and colourful laid back vibe to Calbourne, when Rhythm Tree sprouted from the field above the mill.
Born out of last year’s Didgeridoo Festival, Rhythm Tree still had strong ties with the aboriginal instruments.
Each day began with an open mic session at the Didge Café and there was a fairly loose schedule of music happening in the cafe throughout the weekend.
A drumming circle was laid out in front of the Chai Chapel and festival goers were encouraged to join in.
Five star camping accommodation was provided by Eve at Isle of Wight Tipis and many of the artists opted to sleep within one of her cosy and beautifully decorated tipis.
Didgeridoos were on sale at the festival including those made in Australia by local Island artist Gianpaulo Giancovich, who spent time working with the Aborigine people and produced a wonderful array of instruments.
Liz Cooke and her team had organised a wonderful kids area with dressing up, face painting and other activities, and there was a bouncy castle.
Headlining on the stage on Friday were Kangaroo Moon, who also played last year’s event, with their trancy, melodic and psychedelic mixture of sounds, including those of the didgeridoo.
Saturday was rounded off with ZubopGambia, a London-based worldbeat music group under Gambian master musicians Njega Sohna, Solemelo and Fela Kuti’s niece Molara.
And for Sunday Baka Beyond had everyone on their feet for a fantastic finale. Founded by Martin Cradick and his singer wife Su Hart, after they spent three months living and playing music with the Baka pygmy hunter gatherers deep in the Cameroon rainforest, their music includes the haunting yodel-like vocals of the pygmy people.
“It’s got to where it’s supposed to be – a small family friendly world music event. We picked up two bags of litter at the end!” said organiser Gerry Priddle.
“Although there was music from all over the world, seventeen of the twenty acts actually had a didgeridoo in the line- up. The only ones who didn’t were Zimbaremabwe, ZubopGambia and Baka Beyond.
“We’re going to keep the didgeridoo side of things because it’s our speciality. But we will be including more world music in coming years. It’s about getting the balance right.”
Gerry thought that the footfall for the weekend was around 1,400 people. “We want to be a unique esoteric family orientated festival, it’s not about making money it’s about producing something that everyone will enjoy,” he stressed.
“We want to become part of the IW festival calendar. We’ve already started researching weird and wonderful things to bring to next year’s festival.”
