About the Event...

Vibha and Linda work in Madras Café’s kitchen, a vital link between the voluntary choppers and preparers of ingredients and the cooks. They keep an eye on the contents of the mobile fridge, making sure the stocks of vegetables and spices are right. Fran helps out at the Action Village India information stall at the front of the Madras Café marquee and does shifts in the kitchen, serving food and washing up.

At Womad all three women sleep in the communal tent, which accommodates volunteers from all over the world who have no camping gear. We find them in their duvets, in a recorded online conversation, recalling the experience of waking up to another day of volunteering at Madras Café festival. They air their passions and inspirations for food - how it is cooked, grown and sourced, how it crosses geopolitical and cultural boundaries, bringing people together.

Almost by osmosis, they have gradually become informal educators and community mobilisers. Vibha instigated an annual Festival of Rice in Colchester, Essex, through her work with Colchester Ethnic Minority Forum; she has become a Food Educator and Explorer. Linda was a Woodcraft Folk Leader and Youth Worker and is a self-made food activist. Fran is an Artist and retired Arts Educator and has organised local food and food story exchanges.