Richard Hawkins, proprietor of the Bluegrass Ireland Blog – and a regular contributor to the European Bluegrass Blog – has a new piece about the second European Bluegrass Summit at Bühl, Germany, held February 5-7, 2010.
Richard contributed an overview of the inaugural event here on Bluegrass Today last year. This annual event was launched to give leaders of the European bluegrass community an opportunity to meet, discuss and network together in a central location.
As in 2009, Bühl/Baden, in southern Germany, was the location. Bühl city council, which hosts the annual Bühl International Bluegrass Festival, placed first-rate facilities in Bühl Civic Centre at the disposal of the Summit, free of charge. Twenty-nine people from twelve countries – including Rienk Janssen, IBMA board member, and John Wirtz, chair of the IBMA international committee – came at their own expense to take active part in the Summit, and were welcomed to Bühl by the mayor, Herr Hans Striebel. In two days of intense discussion, participants identified the following subjects as matters of priority, and examined them in working groups:
- Associations and membership, including the future structure of the EBMA and its relationship with national associations;
- The future form of a European bluegrass magazine and website;
- The involvement of young people in bluegrass;
- Festivals (including sponsorship and legal issues) and the promotion in the US of bluegrass from Europe and other non-US regions.
You can read Richard’s full post at the European Bluegrass Blog.
