Brits To Host WOMEX 2013

It’s still not clear which city will host the annual trade fair and conference, but WOMEX 2013 appears certain to be staged in Britain.

Cardiff, Dublin and Glasgow are the three cities to make the shortlist for what will be the first WOMEX to take place in the UK since it visited Newcastle in 2005.

Since it started in 1994 in Berlin, where the WOMEX organisation is still based, the annual gathering has developed into a moveable feast.

It returned to the German capital in 1999 and 2000, but also visited Brussels, Marseille, Stockholm, Rotterdam, Essen, Newcastle upon Tyne and Seville from 1995 to 2008.

This year the annual gathering for those involved in the development of world music is at Copenhagen Forum Oct. 26-30, the last of three to be held there, but the home of WOMEX 2012 is yet to be announced.

More than 750 acts from all over the globe pitched for one of this year’s showcase slots, so the three dozen or so that won will likely represent the best of upcoming talent.

The daytime discussions include Mehmet Ulug from Turkish promoter Pozitif Productions, which is involved with booking Istanbul’s 450-capacity Babylon jazz club and the 21-year-old Akbank Jazz Festival. Also speaking will be Oliver Belopeta from Macedonia’s Skopje Jazz Festival and others discussing how we respond to artists whose music easily straddles both jazz and world music genres.

This year WOMEX’s trade stand space was taken up so quickly that organisers are working on changing the floor plan in The Forum in order to create room for more booths.

Last year’s WOMEX attracted 2,440 delegates from 94 countries.

An announcement regarding where WOMEX 2012 will be staged is forthcoming.