Fira Mediterrània will be in Marseille, European Capital of Culture 2013

Manresa is among the six international consultants for the speed dating

Accredited professionals can submit their performance proposals to perform in Manresa at the stand at the fair

This week Fira Mediterrània of Manresa will be travelling to Marseille in France, the city which is the European Capital of Culture for this year, 2013. It will be taking part in the ninth edition of Babel Med Music, from 21st to 23rd March. The organisers in Marseille have chosen Fira Mediterrània to be one of the six international consultants to run the speed dating events.

For the first time Babel Med is organising “speed dating” sessions, short meetings arranged in advance between music industry experts and artists and professionals wanting to make direct contact with them. The organisers in Marseille have chosen Manresa along with representatives of the main market events in the sector internationally. These sessions are planned for 22nd March, between 10 and 12 o’clock in the morning. Fira will be sharing them with Anna Pötzsch, director of media and communications at the prestigious Womex (World Music Expo); Christina Fina, international relations coordinator at Medimex (the Italian music market organised in Bari by Puglia Sounds); Jérôme Galabert, director of IOMMA (the Indian Ocean music market); José Da Silva, director of Atlantic Music Expo (platform for transatlantic cultural exchanges in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde); and Cécile Rata, coordinator of SIMA (the international African music fair, the first edition of which is to be held in November in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon).

Babel Med is one of the top international music markets in the world with 2,500 international delegates, a professional area with 123 stands and 36 concerts organised. Fira will also be at the professional forum with a stand, number 34, where proposals for performances at its 16th edition can be presented, as the deadline for submitting proposals for 2013 coincides with the last day of the market in Marseille. Proposals can also be handed in at the stand to take part in the Mediterrània Professional Meeting, the programme of professional events to be organised within the Business Area in Manresa, including presentations of products and services.

EFWMF meeting

As part of the ninth edition of Babel Med, on 21st and 22nd March, Fira Mediterrània will be taking part in the meeting of members and annual general meeting of the European Forum of Worldwide Music Festivals (EFWMF), of which Fira is a member. This is the broadest, most important roots music network in the world, with some forty members. The members’ meetings will discuss, among other topics, coming EFWMF expeditions and work group sessions will be run under the slogan “Social or ethical commitment and your festival! A coincidence?”

Fira’s expedition to Marseille is sponsored by Rosita beer, thanks to which the Manresa fair can lay on a reception for all the accredited professionals at Babel Med at 1.00pm on Friday 22nd. Through receptions like this international delegations attract the attention of the delegates present.

European Capital of Culture

Marseille, with one million nine hundred thousand inhabitants, 15 million tourists and an annual spend of 400 million euros on culture, has approached its year as cultural capital with an investment of 600 million euros in cultural facilities, 90 million euros on cultural activities, 61 million on other projects and 30 more on communication, hospitality and the running of the event. 15 million of this was raised through the formula of sponsorship and patronage. The organisers expect to bring in 15 million visitors with a financial return of 6 euros for every one invested. 300 events and 80 exhibitions have been planned over the year, and some 40 different venues have been built or refurbished.

article posted by:David Ibañez, Fira Mediterrània Manresa