Darling Harbour Fiesta

By Nick Galvin

Riding high on the explosion of interest in Latin American dance forms such as salsa and tango, this weekend's Darling Harbour Fiesta is expected to draw more than 300,000 fans over the long weekend.

''There is so much demand for Latin bands and particularly bands that can play good salsa because people love that kind of dance,'' says Sal Sharah, who is responsible for programming the festival.

Television dance shows have ignited the popularity of the music.

''The most exciting dance styles on those TV shows are the Latin dance styles,'' Sharah says. ''Everything about Latin American music is just that little bit larger than life - the tango is very sexy, the salsa is hot and intense and Brazilian dancing is just so appealing.''

This year's Fiesta will feature 30 bands representing practically every type of Latin music, plus 45 dance groups. Fiesta is now in its 18th year and Sharah says the event has grown and changed a lot in that time.

''It's moved from being pretty much a traditional festival that celebrated Latin American and Spanish culture to being 50-50 traditional and more contemporary.''

Just a few decades ago the chance to see bands in Sydney playing music from other cultures was almost non-existent.

But now it's possible to hear the sounds from dozens of different countries practically every night of the week.

And Latin American music is just the most visible genre in the grab-bag generally referred to as ''world music''. From Indian raga music to township jive and gypsy jazz to Australian indigenous sounds, world music is as broad as it is deep and has never been more popular in Australia.

Journalist Seth Jordan, the artistic director of the Bellingen Global Carnival, says the term ''world music'' was adopted in the mid to early 1980s largely to help record stores categorise unfamiliar overseas music.

''Prior to that, if you went into a record shop, there would be that little section that they called 'international' that would have a mariachi band from Mexico, a Scottish bagpipes album and maybe, if you were lucky, a Ravi Shankar album,'' he says.

The concept was given a big push into popular consciousness by crossover artists such as Paul Simon and Ry Cooder as well as big names including Miriam Makeba, Youssef N'Dour, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the Buena Vista Social Club.

But, inevitably, world music has not been without its critics.

''Some people have said it almost ghetto-ises those musics into being seen as art rather than popular music,'' Jordan says. ''But I don't think people should get too hung up on the semantics of it - they should just enjoy the music instead.''

And, like all vibrant music forms, world music continues to defy categorisation and develop and evolve.

''It can include everything from those authentic expressions of culture to very contemporary modern electrified versions and, these days, into very modern rap and hip-hop and world DJ culture,'' Jordan says.

Justo Diaz is the musical director of Cafe Carnivale, which has weekly gigs at Eastside Arts in Paddington, the Barrenjoey Music Room at North Avalon, the Sound Lounge at the Seymour Centre and the Glen Street Theatre at Belrose throughout 2009. The music hails from places as diverse as Spain, Malta, the Balkans, China, West Africa and South America.

Tonight, for instance, Sydney-based Errol Renaud's Caribbean Soul will bring their fusion of calypso, soca and reggae to Eastside Arts, which will host a Cafe Carnivale concert each Friday until December 11.

As well as programming the series, Diaz is also a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and composer and founder of Sydney-based Latin band Papalote. When he first came to Sydney in the late 1970s from Argentina, the concept of world music was unheard of.

''People were really surprised to hear music from different parts of the world,'' he says. ''No one even knew the instruments I was using.''

Diaz revels in the diversity of the Cafe Carnivale program and especially loves hearing performers using unusual instruments, such as the bandura, a traditional Ukrainian instrument that combines aspects of the guitar and lute.

''Some musics are much easier than others to listen to,'' Diaz says.

''People go to an African concert and enjoy the rhythm and dance naturally but if you hear a fusion band or a bossa nova, that can be more complicated, with different kinds of harmonies and melodies. You have to settle down and listen to understand.''

ERROL RENAUD AND CARRIBBEAN SOUL

Tonight at 8.15 , Eastside Arts , Paddington, 1800 688 482, $23.

CAFE CARNIVALE

Weekly until December, various venues and prices , musicaviva.com.au/cafecarnivale.

DARLING HARBOUR FIESTA

Friday-Monday, various venues , see darlingharbour.com for full program, free.