October 2020 will be prime time for world music in Hungary’s capital. Along with the annual Budapest Ritmo Festival, taking place over four days earlier in the month, renowned international world music festival WOMEX will be returning after an absence of five years.
The World Music Expo is not just a series of exciting concerts but also a fair and conference, bringing together all the major players in the field of folk and world music from nearly 100 countries. The event allows music publishers, concert and festival organisers, and performers to meet and focus on the global industry.
The history of the Germany-based festival goes back to 1991, as it was originally part of the Berlin Independence Day celebrations. It took the name WOMEX in 1994. In addition to Berlin, there have also been events in Brussels, Marseille, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Rotterdam, Seville and Santiago de Compostela.
The right to organise WOMEX is arranged by competition. Budapest won the honorary title for the first time in 2015. Venues for the occasion included Müpa and the A38 Ship. Five years later, WOMEX will again be hosted by Hangvető, all part of the CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival.
