After being forced to cancel last year, The Okinawa International Asia Music Festival Musix is back for a second round. The festival first appeared in March 2010 with a program of well over 100 bands from Japan and overseas. Not keeping with a specific theme, the festival offers pop, jazz, rock and traditional music mixed together in a program that should suit even the most varied music fan. For example, Marty Friedman, legendary guitarist and once part of the band Megadeth, will stop by the Okinawa festival before heading off for Europe.

The festival will take place in the Mihama district in Chatan, the Otoichiba district in Okinawa City, and in Naha. A lot of the festival will take place at indoor venues for a cover charge, but if you want to enjoy the subtropical spring and make the experience cheaper, head for Otoichiba. Here you will find the festival's outdoor venues, where performances are mostly free. The event will also feature a series of conferences, where established musicians and journalists will debate the future of the music industry and counsel young acts hoping for a career.

Okinawa International Asia Music Festival Musix takes place March 16-18 in Naha and Okinawa City, Okinawa. For more information, visit musix-okinawa.com/2012/en.