THIS year’s WOMAD Festival is shaping up to be one of the biggest in its 36 year history after yet another wave of high profile acts was announced by organisers this week.

The three-day festival, which has been held at Charlton Park near Malmesbury since 2007, is a colourful celebration of world music, dance and art, with acts hailing from Columbia to Korea.

Heading up the latest wave of acts announced for the extravaganza is St Germain, the multi-million-selling electronica producer Ludovic Navarre, who produced some of the signature sounds of the 1990s with a blend of house and jazz.

Joining him is Anoushka Shankar, who has now fully emerged from the shadow of her father Ravi to become the foremost sitar player in the world today, and Buika, a singer born and raised in Majorca who melds flamenco and jazz to carry the listener across the Mediterranean’s waters.

Several acts have also been announced for Thursday night, including Asian Dub Foundation, the outfit whose explosion of electronica, raga, drum & bass and punk is one of the most thrilling live experiences around and Imarhan, a trailblazing band from the latest generation of Saharan desert blues-rockers.

They join funk frontrunners George Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic, revered American jazz group Hot 8 Brass Band, Colombian outfit Sidestepper, Senegalese singing sensation Baaba Maal, American singer-songwriter John Grant and British rap stalwart Roots Manuva, to name just a few.

During the event, which will run from July 28 – July 31, there will also be a number of workshops, a tantalising range of world food on offer and stalls selling goods including clothing and musical instruments.

The festival was founded in 1980 by a group of influential figures in the music industry including Peter Gabriel, and has since garnered a reputation as one of the world’s most renowned world music events in the UK.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit womad.co.uk