The steps towards WOMEX were taken in October 1991 within the ‘Worldwide Music Days at the BID’ in Berlin, Germany as part of the Berlin Independence Days annual indie music convention. The first edition of WOMEX, boldly stand-alone after the closure of the BID, then took place in Berlin in 1994. Back then, the aim was to host an event that would bring together all the key players within world music and, collaboratively, provide a platform to map out a future for the industry, a principle that continues to inform and guide all WOMEX editions to this day.