Essen, Germany - With the ceremonial granting of the WOMEX Award 2004 to Marc Hollander and Crammed Discs for 25 years of visionary grass roots work on the blooming plant of world music, the world's biggest expo for world music and global sounds has come to an end at Zeche Zollverein / Essen, on Sunday, October 31st, 2004.

"Home game with many guests“ was the felicitous headline of the newspaper Neue Ruhr Zeitung NRZ regarding the producer WOMEX (Berlin) and its international visitors: Since Wednesday, 2000 international professionals, 450 musicians and approximately 3000 regional music lovers had united for the leading international networking salon of global music on the grounds of UNESCO World Heritage Site Zeche Zollverein. Professionals as well as visitors were very pleased with both the fair and concert venues alike. The opening gala with Via Kabul. Music and Voices of Central Asia at Lichtburg Filmpalast in downtown Essen, had just set the pace - WOMEX kept it through the entire event.

During daytime, the WOMEX professionals - among them more than 250 journalists - met with 300 exhibitors on 200 trade fair stands. The decision makers of labels, concert promoters, agents, cultural institutions, the media and other sectors gathered from over 90 countries to spread the sound tracks of anti/globalization. During the five days of the fair, they visited 52 concerts on 6 stages, discussed 25 conference topics with 35 speakers, used the third IMZ World Music Film Screenings to preview 11 videos and initiated their business for the coming season on the way.

Apart from the registered professionals, hundreds of music friends from the region took advantage of the public concerts on the three main trade fair days from Thursday to Sunday - 42 showcase acts, the top tips and coming shooting stars of the world music scene, 14 per night at the daily price of 14 Euros (advance) / 16 Euros (doors). Stylistically, the WOMEX 2004 showcases reached from Andean folklore in chamber music arrangements (Familia Pillco) to the tribal singings of the Brazilian Northeast (Renata Rosa) and Brazil/funk crossover projects like Think of One presents Chuva Em Pó (Belgium/Brazil) or BNegão & Os Seletores de Frequência (Brazil) to the eccentric jazz vocal acrobatics of Erika Stucky from Switzerland.

Following the renewed invitation of Projekt Ruhr and the Office of Cultural Affairs of the city of Essen, WOMEX again broadened its capacities. In comparison to WOMEX 2002 in Essen, the number of registered exhibitors and delegates again increased by 10 %, including the income for the region: The amount spent by producer WOMEX and the international professionals sums up to at least 1.2 million Euros, tending upwards according to the growth rates.

WOMEX 2005 will take place from 26 - 30 October in the new spectacular music centre The Sage Gateshead / Newcastle Gateshead, UK, built by star architect Norman Foster.

Negotiations for a perpetual WOMEX comeback to Essen in the years to come have begun.

WOMEX 2004 was a production of WOMEX - the world music expo in cooperation with Projekt Ruhr GmbH, Stadt Essen, Kulturbüro Essen, Entwicklungsgesellschaft Zollverein (EGZ), Stiftung Zollverein, Landesentwicklungsgesellschaft NRW (LEG), Essen Marketing GmbH (EMG) and WDR Funkhaus Europa.