woohoo! i love this event – and not just because it is the biggest of its kind, worldwide. but also because i’m going there every year for about one and a half decade, maybe even more – and in the process met a lot of great people and found some friends as well. so it’s not just about getting to look at new products, it’s more like one huge hang while listening to some of the world’s finest musicians on the side. paying a visit is strongly recommended, if it is possible for you at all – go there!

this year it takes place from the 1st til the 4th of april, each day from 09:00 to 18:00 in frankfurt, germany. the first 3 days are for professionals only, you have to prove that you’re related to the music business somehow. on saturday it’s open to the public…..and no fun at all! it’s usually so damn crowded that you don’t have a chance to really talk to someone or have a close look at whatever you might be interested in. and, the guys at the booths just want to go home – they’re completely worn out on this last day – so almost no chance of making cool new contacts. boo. on the other hand, saturday has the best live acts to check out – but, again, way too crowded to get a good look (or listen).

if you’re (like me) interested in nothing specific, but more like everything, you need at least two days. i even managed once to be there all 4 days from sunrise to sunset and still not seeing it all :-) so i recommend figuring out what to see instead of just stumbling around and missing the gems. and, depending on how you get there and where you stay, it can be a pretty expensive trip…

anyway, i’ll be there for two days again, but this year taking lots of pictures and messing around even worse, so i’ll have something to write about :-) some meetings with cool people have already been arranged and hopefully there’ll be lots of cool new stuff to check out. by the way, if you’re planning to go there and want to grab a beer or something, you know what to do.

now here’s the link to the official website, where you can get all the details, see who plays where and when or order tickets. check it out right here.

…oh, and bring your earplugs.