Next January, New Orleans will the be the host city for Folk Alliance International’s 32nd conference.

As “the world’s largest gathering of the folk music industry and community,” the FAI conference is an international music event featuring artist showcases, industry panels, mentoring sessions, networking events, a global summit series, artist in residence program, awards show and more. 

FAI is comprised of more than 2,800 delegates representing 35 countries and prides itself on producing an annual event celebrating the world’s folk music communities. This year’s conference will feature the theme of “The Story of People and Place.”

According to organizers, the theme will “explore ideas of diversity, inclusion, immigration, intersection, and influence.” Taking its host city into consideration, the theme will reflect New Orleans’ history as a center of trade and its being a “setting for people to overcome language and cultural barriers by connecting through music and cuisine.”

Reid Wick, Sr. Membership & Project Manager at the RECORDING ACADEMY and Board member of FAI explains, “the entire region is a hotbed of musical history talent, and we have major developments in the music industry at a city and state level that dovetail perfectly with the arrival of this global event.”

Attendees can expect to see artist showcases representing a broad variety of folk genres including Appalachian, Americana, Bluegrass, Blues, Cajun, Celtic, Francophone, Global Roots, Indie-Folk, Indigenous, Latin, Old-Time, Traditional, Singer-Songwriter, Spoken Word, Zydeco and more.

Folk Alliance International’s 32nd conference takes place January 22 – 26, 2020, at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel on Canal Street. For more information, click here.