More artists added to the line up for Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Festival 2014

Since its beginnings in Sète (South of France) in 2006, Worldwide Festival has had one simple goal: to create a different festival, offering a unique artistic selection inspired by twenty years of Gilles Peterson’s legendary radio show ‘Worldwide’.

The festival has grown into a seven day expression of culture that brings together thousands of festival goers every year from far flung corners of the globe and fuses together acoustic performances, beach parties and open air club sets for one unforgettable experience.

‘My main aim with this festival was to invite my friends to play to the finest crowd on the finest sound system…’’ Gilles explains.

This year’s event is no exception; from 30th June til 6th July, Gilles and the Worldwide Festival team will once again be invading Sète (dubbed the île singulière by Paul Valery) and its unique venues. Following an opening party at the Paul Valery Museum (Monday) and a Street Party on the cobbled quayside just in front of the CRAC (Regional Modern Art Museum), for the first three days (Monday thru Wednesday) the Théâtre de la Mer will be transformed into an open air clubbing paradise, while the St Christ venue (clubbing area) will once again be covered head to toe in lights from Thursday to Sunday.

During the day, the classic Sète beach parties provide a congregation point for all Worldwide Festival goers.

The decision to choose Sète as the festival’s home was a natural one. Eschewing the usual concept of cramming young festival goers by their thousands into soulless arenas, the Worldwide Festival team strived to find the perfect combination of artistic quality and stunning settings. The île singulière meets all these criteria; not just because of its unique peninsular location, but also because of its heritage and community of resident artists.

Confirmed artists on the bill for 2014: FOUR TET, FLOATING POINTS, MICHAEL KIWANUKA, ANDREW ASHONG, OSUNLADE, SHIGETO, SADAR BAHAR, JONWAYNE, WERKHA, JOHN WIZARDS and many more to come…

Gilles gives the lowdown on the artists ‘,As well as writing the theme for La Rue Sesame alongside Roy Ayers, Salif Keita and the immense Cesaria Evora, Osunlade is quite simply a special DJ who is just as hot with binary rhythms as he is with groovier and more complicated cuts from the world of Jazz and African music.

Jonwayne will be flying the flag for the West Coast of the US, and his presence is sure to make its mark on lovers of hip hop influenced by flashes of Wu Tang and Rawkus parties as well as the mellow ballads of Drake and The Weeknd.

Simply put, Sadar Bahar takes the bull by the horns. Straight out of Chicago, and master of groove and polished edits, he has long been the best kept secret of distinguished groovers such as Danny Krivitt and myself…’

He adds ‘,Shigheto also hails from the states, from Ann Arbor to be precise. Although his music is not too dissimilar from the sounds of Prefuse 73, he has succeeded in blasting out his own unique sound in mind-blowing fashion, adding live instruments to his machines to create a rich acoustic combination unheard of in its genre.

A product of a youth spent tackling instruments, the Manchester born producer, Werkha, makes music that incorporates both his passion for live music and soundsystems. His music effortlessly blends his disparate influences, through crisp, clean percussion and a creative approach to utilising instruments and vocals.

The kind of bard whose taste in music covers English folk as well as releases from labels such as Warp and Eglo, Andrew Ashong is a kind of genius all-rounder who stretches out his soul across spellbinding electronic rhythms.

It’s not an overstatement to hear Michael Kiwanuka being compared with Bill Withers or Otis Redding – his voice is sure to send shivers through the Théâtre de la Mer even at temperatures of 30°C!

The magicians of John Wizard hail from South Africa, one of the world’s biggest football-loving nations. As for music, it’s a nation that’s known for the pyjama clad world music of Johnny Clegg, and most recently the ridiculous rappers Die Antwoord – a split right down the middle that’s for sure.’