WOMEX 26
worldwide music festival

WOMEX – Worldwide Music Expo – is the most international and culturally diverse music meeting in the world and the biggest conference of the global music scene, featuring a trade fair, talks, films and showcase concerts.

Over 2,000 professionals (including 280 performing artists) come together every October from 90 countries, making WOMEX the leading networking platform for the world music industry. Its musical spectrum is unparalleled in the international showcase performance market, ranging from the most traditional to the new global local underground, embracing folk, roots, jazz, local and diaspora cultures as much as urban and electronic sounds from all over the globe.

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria will become the global capital of music from 21–25 October 2026, when WOMEX gathers music professionals from across the world.

The island and the city are a natural host for the event: global and intercultural exchange is part of the Canary Islands’ identity, thanks to their proximity to the Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as their long-standing cultural connections with Latin America. 

Learn more at womex.com.

WOMEX is committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone can fully and comfortably participate in and enjoy the event.

Overall, WOMEX 26 is widely accessible for wheelchair users and people with reduced mobility. However, less support features are available for hard of hearing and partially sighted persons. Due to the close proximity of all event venues, no transport is needed to get from one part of the event to another.

For comprehensive information on accessibility at each of the WOMEX 26 venues, please visit our accessibility page.

The website contains detailed information to assist you in organising your visit, such as an overview of accessibility features (or lack thereof) at the venues and services available to accommodate the various needs of participants.

As outlined in our WOMEX Code of Conduct, we are committed to creating a respectful, considerate and discrimination-sensitive space for everyone taking part in WOMEX. To help put this commitment into practice, we develop guidelines, support mechanisms, and build staff capacity to foster a safer and more inclusive environment on-site at our event. You can find more information on our WOMEX Awareness Concept on our dedicated Awareness webpage.

Our local partner is currently building an Awareness team of trained professionals who will be present on-site at WOMEX 26 to support affected people in accordance to the WOMEX Awareness Concept during all five days of the event. More information on who is behind the Awareness team for WOMEX 26, as well as how, when, and where to reach them during the event will be published in our FAQ on Awareness. In the meantime, please reach out to inclusion@womex.com in case of questions.

Since its beginning in 1994, WOMEX – The Worldwide Music Expo, has embraced the diversity of our musical community. We aim to create an inclusive, welcoming environment where everyone feels valued and respected. We are committed to making our events respectful, considerate, discrimination-sensitive spaces for all participants – regardless of age, appearance, community, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, nationality, peoples, physical or mental ability, religion, or socioeconomic status and beliefs.

WOMEX does not tolerate any form of discrimination, harassment, sexism, or racism towards, between, or among its participants. Whilst we all acknowledge the diversity of viewpoints within our community, during the Event all participants are expected to treat each other with empathy and respect; and agree to do this.

Each participant shares the responsibility for upholding these principles and this ethos, and all participants are expected to conform to this Code of Conduct.

This applies to WOMEX events in-person, printed materials, social media and virtualWOMEX. Non-compliance may result in being expelled from the Event without a refund, as stated and agreed in our registration Terms and Conditions.

Full version of our Code of Conduct is available on WOMEX webiste.