A Great Response to jazzahead! 2019 With Visitors From 64 Countries During Four-day Event in Bremen
The 2019 jazzahead! trade fair at Messe Bremen has come to its close, and there has been another year-on-year increase in the number of professionals attending. No fewer than 64 different countries were represented at this year’s event. From Thursday 25 until Sunday 28 April, the organisers’ statistics show 3,408 participants (2018: 3,282) trade participants. In total, 18,114 visitors (2018: 17,362) were present at the trade fair and the 100 concerts over the weekend.
“jazzahead! is the largest gathering of the industry anywhere in the world,” says Hans Peter Schneider, Managing Director of Messe Bremen and founder of jazzahead! “For people who want to make and expand their international contacts, this is the right place. And the buzz about jazzahead! keeps reaching more new places and attracting more new people.”
The organizers are not just looking back, because there will be good reasons to celebrate in 2020: jazzahead! itself will be 15 years old, and there will also be the tenth festival based around the culture of a partner country. And who is it going to be next year? “Because of the double anniversary we have something very special in preparation,” says jazzahead! Project Manager, Sybille Kornitschky of Messe Bremen. “However, since we are just dotting the final i‘s and crossing the t‘s on the contract, it is going to take a few more days before we can make an announcement.”
Meanwhile, plans for jazzahead‘s anniversary year are already taking shape. “One focus will be a further expansion and development of our role as an intermediary in fostering international business contacts,” says Sybille Kornitschky. “Musicians and other professional from overseas come here to gain a foothold in the European market, and those from Europe are also attracted to develop activity in other international markets. To coordinate these interests even better will be a guiding principle in our programme development.”
Another plan for 2020: jazzahead!’s management team aims at bringing a clearer alignment with the priorities of international promoters and programme makers. It also wants to support an initiative by this year’s partner country Norway, to bring into existence an international network of young professionals working in the industry.
Since 2006, jazzahead! has enabled the worldwide jazz scene to gather at Messe Bremen every year. Among the specialist participants this year there were 1,419 exhibiting companies, at 121 main and joint stands, (2018: 1,319). In 2020, jazzahead! will take place from 23 to 26 April.
