Winter NAMM 2021 cancelled due to COVID-19

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the cancellation of innumerable conferences and trade shows in industries around the world, and the guitar and music instrument industry has certainly been no exception.

Today, it was announced - four months after the cancellation of the 2020 Summer NAMM show due to the coronavirus - that the 2021 Winter NAMM show, its larger companion, has also been cancelled.

In its place, NAMM is setting up Believe In Music- “an interactive marketplace to connect buyers and sellers” – at BelieveInMusic.tv for the week of January 18, 2021.

“Given the current realities of the COVID-19 pandemic and the health and safety of NAMM members as our first priority, it is now clear there is no path forward for an in-person event in California, and we have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2021 NAMM Show,” read an announcement from the organization.

“While we are disappointed that we will not be able to gather our NAMM family in-person this January, we are reimagining how to connect all facets of the industry while benefiting those most deeply impacted with the launch of Believe in Music: The global gathering to unify and support the people who bring music to the world."

Usually hosted at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, Winter NAMM is by far and away the biggest and most crucial yearly event in the guitar gear calendar, playing host to a cavalcade of new gear releases and special appearances and performances from big-name artists. 

It will certainly be interesting to see how it affects the rollout of major new pieces of guitar gear, the usual schedule of which has already been thrown off significantly by the absence of Summer NAMM. 

“If there’s one common vision, it’s that as a global community, we believe in music," the statement from NAMM continued. "We believe in the future of music and in the future of our industry, and in this moment, we will unite and support music-makers around the world.”

For more information on the Believe In Music show, head on over to NAMM.