IBMA's World of Bluegrass moves to North Carolina for 2013-15

The central event of the bluegrass year, IBMA's World of Bluegrass, incorporating business conference, trade show, awards show, and Fan Fest, will be held for at least the next three years (2013-15) in Raleigh, North Carolina. By all accounts the facilities in Raleigh are excellent and the city highly supportive. A major point for those attending WOB is that costs should be much lower than in Nashville, TN, where the event has been held since 2005. Read the IBMA's announcement here.

North Carolina is of course a state of great importance in the history of bluegrass and old-time music. A commentator has suggested that the IBMA headquarters might also move to Raleigh, but there seems no logical need for this to happen for the sake of one week out of the year - during the eight years that WOB was held in Louisville, KY, the IBMA office stayed in its earlier location of Owensboro, KY, till the move to Tennessee. Nashville, as a music industry centre, is an obvious location for the IBMA HQ, and unless office costs become crucial it can be expected to remain there.