East European Music Conference 2026
67 guests from 23 countries convened in Bucharest to discuss the future of the live music industry in Europe
Ana-Maria Popescu, 31.05.2026, 15:16
The 2026 East European Music Conference was hosted by the Romanian capital city on May 21st and 22nd.
As many as 67 guests from 23 countries, including festival directors from across Europe, event and crowd safety specialists, public policy makers, promoters, ticketing professionals, venues, artists and cultural operators, convened in a variety of panels to discuss the future of the live music industry in Europe.
My guests are Codruța Vulcu, who launched the East European Music Conference & Showcase Festival in 2017 and who is also the director and founder of ARTmania Festival, awarded as the Best Small Festival in Europe in 2019, and Saşa-Liviu Stoianovici, co-founder of Balkan Taskim, one of the most original bands in Romania in recent years, which blends traditional rural Balkan sounds with contemporary electronica and ambient, and which opened the EEMC 2026 with a Balkan Fusion Extravaganza.