WOMEX World Music Expo 2019 will take place in Tampere, Finland. The 25th edition of the most important conference and showcase festival for global music will be held 23-27 October, 2019.

Tampere is the 3rd largest city in Finland and a versatile music hub: it is the home for numerous high-quality festivals, events and music companies. It is no coincidence that Womex is now heading to Finland and Tampere. As the parent company of Womex, Berlin based Piranha Arts puts it: ”Finland’s folk and world music sphere is vibrant, highly versatile and has rich musical traditions, so much so The Folk Music Department of the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, received the Womex Award for Professional Excellence in 2008”.

Together with Piranha Arts, Womex 2019 will be brought to Finland by Tampere-based music company Rockadillo Production as the main local partner. ”It is absolutely great to have WOMEX 2019 finally in Finland, and especially in my hometown. All local partners from the City of Tampere, Visit Tampere and Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture to the staff at Tampere Hall and other venues as well as Music Finland as the strategic partner have shown strong motivation and determination to make it happen, so we aim to create a nice and compact, participant-friendly experience in Tampere", says Rockadillo Production’s Managing Director Tapio Korjus.

As Womex 2019's strategic partner, Music Finland will produce the opening concert focusing on Finnish music, and make sure that Finnish folk music and export companies will be highly visibile in the event.

Womex is the most international music meeting in the world and the biggest conference of the global music scene, featuring a trade fair, talks, films and a showcase festival. Over 2,500 professionals come together every October from more than 90 countries, making Womex not only the number one networking platform for the world music industry but also the most diverse music meeting worldwide. 

Its musical spectrum is unparalleled in the international showcase festival scene, ranging from the most traditional to the new global-local underground, embracing folk, roots, local and diaspora cultures and urban and electronic sounds from all over the globe as well as all musical juxtapositions of these. It also attracts more and more jazz and classical music professionals. 

 Womex comprises 7 stages, over 700 exhibiting companies, 80 conference speakers, films, an opening concert and an award ceremony across five networking days and nights.