The International Festival & Music Conference organised and produced by Puglia Culture as part of Puglia Sounds, the project for the development of the regional music system carried out in collaboration with the Puglia Region.
MEDIMEX was born in 2011 as the Mediterranean Music Expo, driven by regional policies for the development of music. The Puglia Region regards this cultural form as a productive activity on a par with other economic sectors, one in which it is both possible and necessary to invest resources and creativity.
From the very start, MEDIMEX established itself as a wide-ranging international event devoted entirely to music: the music of artists, of industry professionals, of audiences.
And the first edition already set out the defining features of the event: the live music dimension and the music conference, brought together by music’s ability to be a cross-cutting language that inspires and enriches others, such as cinema, radio, photography, comics, the visual arts and literature.
Over the first five editions, from 2011 to 2015, the Bari exhibition centre hosted hundreds of events in all, bringing together thousands of artists and professionals, festivals and businesses from Puglia to celebrate music across its entire supply chain. From 2017 to the present, MEDIMEX has moved from city to city, reshaped its programme and renamed its events.
Yet it has held firm to the defining features that make it a precious moment for music, for Puglia and for its people, becoming the leading international festival and music conference for industry professionals, enriched by a wide range of events for the general public.
Editions
2026
XVI edition
The 2026 edition of MEDIMEX took place in Taranto, with the programme spread across 7 venues: University of Bari – Ionian Department, Teatro Fusco, Castello Aragonese, MArTA (National Archaeological Museum of Taranto), Caffè Letterario, Spazioporto and Rotonda del Lungomare. All from 17 to 21 June.
2025
XV edition
The 2025 edition of MEDIMEX took place in Taranto, with the programme spread across 7 venues: University of Bari – Ionian Department, Teatro Fusco, Castello Aragonese, MArTA (National Archaeological Museum of Taranto), Caffè Letterario, Spazioporto and Rotonda del Lungomare. All from 17 to 21 June.
2024
XIV edition
The 2024 edition of MEDIMEX was dedicated to the memory of Ernesto Assante. It took place in Taranto, with the programme spread across 9 venues: University of Bari – Ionian Department, Teatro Fusco, Castello Aragonese, “G. Paisiello” Conservatory, MArTA (National Archaeological Museum of Taranto), Caffè Letterario, Spazioporto, Rotonda del Lungomare and StudioGaudio Recording. All from 19 to 23 June.
2023
XIII edition
The 2023 edition of MEDIMEX took place in Taranto. The programme was spread across 10 venues in the city: University of Bari – Ionian Department, Teatro Fusco, Castello Aragonese, “G. Paisiello” Conservatory, MArTA (National Archaeological Museum of Taranto), Caffè Letterario, Spazioporto, Rotonda del Lungomare, Stazione 37 and StudioGaudio Recording. All from 13 to 18 June.
2022
XII edition
The 2022 edition of MEDIMEX took place in two cities: Taranto and Bari, 5 years after the 2017 edition. In Taranto the programme was spread across 5 venues: Teatro Fusco, Rotonda del Lungomare, Castello Aragonese, MArTA (National Archaeological Museum of Taranto) and Spazioporto. All from 16 to 19 June.
In Bari the programme was spread across 8 venues: Ex Palazzo delle Poste, Teatro Kursaal Santalucia, Rotonda di via Paolo Pinto, Spazio Murat, Teatro Margherita, Torre Quetta, laFeltrinelli and MAST Recording Studio. All from 13 to 15 July.
2021
XI edition
The 2021 edition of MEDIMEX took place in Taranto. The programme was spread across 7 physical venues in the city: University of Bari – Ionian Department, Teatro Fusco, Castello Aragonese and its Galleria Comunale, “G. Paisiello” Conservatory, MArTA (National Archaeological Museum of Taranto), Caffè Letterario and Spazioporto. Plus an intangible one: online. All from 15 to 19 September, postponed because of the safety protocols.
2020
X edition
The 2020 edition of MEDIMEX was held entirely online, as the pandemic brought live events to a halt all over the world. It connected guests and participants directly to the events over the internet. All from 3 to 18 June.
2019
IX edition
In the city of Taranto the MEDIMEX programme was spread across 8 venues: University of Bari – Ionian Department, Giardini Peripato, Rotonda del Lungomare, “G. Paisiello” Conservatory, MArTA (National Archaeological Museum of Taranto), Teatro Fusco, Castello Aragonese and its Galleria Comunale, and Caffè Letterario. All from 5 to 9 June.
2019
VIII edition
MEDIMEX goes on its transhumance. Northwards! And then south again. In 2019 MEDIMEX doubled its editions: the MEDIMEX Spring Edition in Foggia in April, and a second one in Taranto in June.
In the city of Foggia the MEDIMEX programme was spread across 5 venues: Palazzo della Dogana, Piazza Cavour, “Umberto Giordano” Conservatory, Teatro del Fuoco and Fondazione Monti Uniti. All from 11 to 14 April.
2018
VII edition
The 2018 edition of MEDIMEX left the city of Bari and moved to Taranto. The programme was spread across 7 venues in the city: Circolo degli Ufficiali, Rotonda del Lungomare, Giardini Peripato, Castello Aragonese, “G. Paisiello” Conservatory, MArTA (National Archaeological Museum of Taranto) and Molo Sant’Eligio. And it blossomed again in a city that is a spectacle in itself, suspended between two seas. From 7 to 10 June.
2017
VI edition
MEDIMEX sets sail. Southwards!
Anything but warlike! What is hidden in the belly of our Trojan Horse is pure energy: the positive energy of a programme designed to embrace the whole city of Bari.
2015
V edition
The main programme of the 2015 edition of MEDIMEX (dedicated to the journalist and researcher Sergio Torsello) was held at the Fiera del Levante, which that year hosted more than 100 exhibition stands, and also involved the Cineporto and the Planetario. They were joined by the Teatro Margherita and several venues between Bari and Lecce for the Fuori MEDIMEX fringe programme. From 29 to 31 October.
2014
IV edition
The main programme of the 2014 edition of MEDIMEX (dedicated to the musician Morris Maremonti) was held at the Fiera del Levante, which that year hosted more than 100 exhibition stands, and also involved the Cineporto. From 30 October to 1 November.
2013
III edition
The main programme of the 2013 edition of MEDIMEX was held at the Fiera del Levante, which that year hosted around 100 exhibition stands, and also involved the Teatro Petruzzelli and the Cineporto. From 6 to 8 December.
2012
II edition
The main programme of the 2012 edition of MEDIMEX was held at the Fiera del Levante, which that year hosted more than 140 exhibition stands, and also involved the Teatro Petruzzelli, the Cineporto and the Kismet Opera and Forma theatres. All from 29 November to 2 December. This was an edition of consolidation and relaunch: the ideas of the first edition took on new life, new events took shape, and Puglia’s growth as a host region able to engage positively with the rest of the world became evident.
2011
I edition
The main programme of the 2011 edition of MEDIMEX (dedicated to the musician Massimo La Zazzera) was held at the Fiera del Levante, which hosted more than 100 exhibition stands, and also involved the Showville cinema and the Teatro Petruzzelli. Two special programmes were added: the Off, with 5 events spread across the Teatro Kismet Opera, the Auditorium Diocesano Vallisa, the Demodé Club and the Auditorium Rai; and the Bonus Track, with more than 12 concerts in 8 venues in Bari. All from 25 to 27 November.