IBMA exhibit hall, 2015 (author photo) From intimate gatherings to mega events, live music is back. North Carolina may be the center of one dimension of the universe (pardon the inept metaphor). Earlier this week, the International Bluegrass Music Association announced its annual business meeting and music festival, renamed IBMA Bluegrass Live! , will go on as normally as possible, Sept. 28 - Oct. 2. It’ll be the ninth straight year Raleigh has hosted the event. It’ll also serve as a gauge of how well downtown Raleigh has bounced back from COVID business closings, and last summer’s demonstrations and riots. Touted as the world’s largest free urban bluegrass festival, the week will feature more than 100 performances, along with plenty of workshops and demonstrations, strategy sessions for people in the industry, countless opportunities for musicians of all abilities to jam, and lots and lots of merch. It’s delightful. A couple hundred thousand of us will head to Fayetteville Street to