womex 2026 gran canaria closes tenerife 2027

WOMEX 2026 closes in Gran Canaria as Tenerife named 2027 host

Compiled with the help of artificial intelligence, based on Spanish-language information. Source below the article.

WOMEX 2026 closes in Gran Canaria

WOMEX 2026 Gran Canaria, the leading professional gathering for world music, closed its 32nd edition this Sunday 25 October. The event has been held at the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus and in the surrounding Plaza de la Música in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and highlighted “the decisive role of music, its creators and the industry in building bridges between cultures and acting as a driving force for social change”.

Gala hosted by two international figures

The closing gala, held in the Sinfónica Hall of the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, was presented by Mercedes Caxaj, a cultural manager based in Canada and a recognised promoter of the internationalisation of global music, alongside Wozzy Brewster, founder of The Midi Music Company and a leading manager and innovator in the United Kingdom.

During the ceremony, the organisation expressed its satisfaction with the results of this edition, which brought together more than 2,500 professionals from 90 countries in the Gran Canarian capital. It is the second time the city has hosted the event, following the 2018 edition.

Tenerife to host WOMEX 2027

The gathering also served to officially announce that the 2027 edition will be held in Tenerife, a decision greeted with great enthusiasm by professionals in the sector.

The ceremony was attended by the Councillor for Culture of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Josué Íñiguez, and the Island Director of Culture of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Conrado Álvarez, accompanied by WOMEX’s representative for Spain, Antón Martínez, executive producer Cecilia Carballido, and the heads of local production, Juan Salán and Santi Gutiérrez.

WOMEX Awards honour exceptional talent

The farewell event included the presentation of the WOMEX Awards, created in 1999 to pay tribute to exceptional achievements in world music across categories such as musical excellence, social relevance, commercial success, political impact and career achievement.

Artist Award for Luzmila Carpio

The Artist Award went to Luzmila Carpio, an indigenous Quechua-speaking reference from the Bolivian Altiplano with six decades of uninterrupted career. Her work draws on traditional Quechua songs and those of other indigenous peoples, projecting them into a contemporary evolution characterised by a wide operatic vocal range and melodies inspired by the native birds of the Andes.

After receiving the award from Colombian cultural journalist Luisa Piñeros, Carpio dedicated the recognition to mothers and grandmothers, thanked nature for the origin of her singing and performed several compositions, recalling that “a people that does not sing, a people that does not dance, is a dead people”.

Jail Time Records recognised for social project

The WOMEX Award for Career Achievement / Social Project recognised the work of Jail Time Records, a record label and artists’ collective founded in 2018 by Italian visual artist Dione Roach and DJ and producer Steve Happi at New Bell prison in Douala, Cameroon. The project offers people deprived of their liberty a space to create hip-hop, trap, drill and afro-house in the prison’s studio, extending its impact to other institutions and supporting social reintegration after sentences are served.

Described by British DJ Emily Dust as an “instrument of resistance”, Steve Happi himself expressed his thanks via a video.

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