THE small rural town of Malmesbury becomes the home of world music and culture this week, as the internationally renowned WOMAD Festival returns to Charlton Park.

Thousands will descend on the town for the annual celebration of international culture, with music, spoken word, science and politics on offer to appeal to anyone and everyone.

Among the music legends taking to WOMAD’s iconic stages this year are The George Clinton Parliament-Funkadelic and one of the godfathers of British hip-hop, Roots Manuva.

As always the eclectic festival will feature political expression, whether it is about women’s rights or experiences as a refugee or someone in political exile.

This year there will also be a range of extra-curricular entertainment for the whole family, including a Brazilian carnival of dance, circus skills and music, which aims to get youngsters get into the WOMAD spirit.

The Physics Pavilion is an exciting new addition for 2016, which hopes to bridge the gap between science and entertainment. It is offering a fun and fascinating programme featuring the likes of lead Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat, who will discuss how the programme blends science fact with science fiction.

Another returning favourite to stimulate the brainwaves is World of Words, which this year’s includes an appearance from the official poet for the London Olympics, Lemn Sissay MBE.

Channel 4 journalist Jon Snow will also be hosting discussions on how to achieve a Green Britain with youngsters aged 11-16.

In addition to this, WOMAD’s unique and irresistible range of food and drink includes the return of the amazing Taste the World stage, which sees performers cook a dish from their native country for the audience.

In an attempt to engage local youngsters this year, school pupils in Malmesbury were given the opportunity to take part in a series of workshops about Brazilian culture, organised through WOMAD.

Pupils from Malmesbury School, Malmesbury Primary, Minety and Brinkworth Earl Danby worked with Escola De Carnaval to better understand the culture of Brazil.

They got to try their hand at performing traditional music, using drums, brass and vocals, as well as dance, through a program funded by a donation from John Lewis.

To top off the experience the pupils will be performing what they have learned at WOMAD itself, opening the festival as the first act at 7pm on Thursday.

As ever, the town council will be hosting a tent at the festival to entice revellers into Malmesbury.

Cllr Fran Vandelli, chairwoman of the community and town promotions committee on the council, said they are looking forward to showing visitors to the town what Malmesbury has to offer.

“We host a tent every year and fill it with tourist information about the town,” she said.

“We are there to raise awareness of Malmesbury as historic place that they could investigate or come back and visit.

“A lot of people don’t realise there is a bus that runs to town so we provide bus timetables so they can get in.

“The festival is brilliant for town but it would be better if we could raise the profile even more.”

To encourage Malmesbury residents to get involved in the WOMAD fun, the festival offers a heavily discounted ticket price for people with a SN16 postcode, meaning they only pay £120 instead of the standard £175.

The festival takes play at Charlton Park in Malmesbury this week, from July 28-31.

For more information visit womad.co.uk