NAMM delays Anaheim winter show until June 2022, combines it with Summer NAMM
It was originally slated for January 2022.
Image: Getty for NAMM
The 2022 Winter NAMM Show, originally set to happen in Anaheim across 20-23 January 2022, will now no longer be happening in winter – it has been delayed until 3-5 June of the same year.
Despite being a NAMM show happening in Summer, it will be distinct from Summer NAMM. It will still be taking place in Anaheim, California, not Nashville, where Summer NAMM takes place, and retain the scale of a regular Winter NAMM. However, there will not be a 2022 Summer NAMM show, meaning the two events have effectively been combined.
The postponement is in response to COVID-19-related uncertainty in the United States, especially in relation to the Delta variant and its possible impact on national and international travel. While pandemic restrictions are continuing to ease across the world, there is still uncertainty in some areas, which would have an especially large impact on attendance from outside of the United States.
NAMM’s president and CEO Joe Lamond touched on this in a statement, saying: “The industry has not stopped evolving and innovating during the pandemic, and The NAMM Show is evolving, as well. As the health and safety of our members remains top of mind, and after carefully listening to companies here in the US and around the world, the new dates will help members maximize their opportunity and accelerate what has arguably been a transformative time both in new products and in how they come to market.
“I imagine this gathering will have the kind of impact of a Beatles moment or the introduction of MIDI – definitely one you will not want to miss.”
While the show will no longer take place in winter, on 21 January the association will host a one-day live stream event entitled Believe In Music. It follows 2021’s Believe In Music Week, and will take a similar approach to this year’s event, albeit across a shorter amount of time.