chris kempTag

Important European music players launch the Sibiu- Festival City program

by alexhr

The most important representatives of the European showbiz industry, businessmen, directors of the largest festival, concert organizers featuring huge names, from Rolling Stones to Robbie Williams, international security experts, lawyers and experts in the complicated international tax system are all awaited at the launching of the “Sibiu – Festival City” project, a program taking place between 27 – 29 July, initiated by ARTmania.

Aside from the rich cultural offer – concerts, exhibitions, book of movie releases – the “Sibiu – Festival City” platform will also host the first edition of the East European Music Conference (EEMC), an event or European amplitude, that aims to bring to the same table over 500 experts, state authorities involved in the process of regulating the creative sector, Romanian promoters and the main actors in the international festival market.

Fruzsina Szep, director of Lollapalooza Berlin or Stephan Thanscheidt – director of the FKP Scorpio company, that has been organizing for the last 20 years the most important festivals in Europe, are some of the guests coming to Romania this year. The conference in Sibiu is organized in partnership with AROC – the Romanian Association of Concerts and Cultural Events Organizers, which includes among its founding members some of the most important promoters in Romania like Emagic, Electric Castle, Summerwell, ARTmania, Blaj aLive or Twin Arts, among others.

Sibiu – Festival City takes place during the same time as ARTmania Festival, turning once again the town in a true Capital of Culture.
MISSION.“SIBIU – Festival City” is a multicultural project with the object of reconfirming the status of the town of Sibiu as an important player on the European market of culture consumers and producers of cultural events. With a remarkable tradition and experience in organizing and promoting large events, Sibiu becomes the regional platform for dialog for all the entities involved in the showbiz industry, not only in Romania, but also in Europe, and takes on the role of promoter in attracting international investments, with a direct impact on citizens and local authorities.

With its first edition, taking place between July 27 -29, the international reunion East European Music Conference, EEEMC, has taken on the mission of creating a healthy debate between the entities that work in the music industry in Romania, starting with representatives from the private sector – event organizers, to international experts and state authorities directly involved in the legal process of this industry. In the context of a continually growing market, the promoters are still working in a confused environment, with an outdated legislation, that does not include specific laws for the concert and festival industry, therefore deeming necessary a communication platform that facilitates the direct contact and punctual troubleshooting.

The local organizers will look for solutions in ideas exchange with the international experts and the main European promoters. Without drastic changes in the legal aspects and without laws borne out of constructive debate, we cannot expect rapid or healthy changes on the local market, and EEMC targets, long-term, a rebirth that will align this sector with the European festival and concert standards.

PROGRAM AND GUESTS. The terrorist threat and crisis situations in the Sibiu conference schedule. Directors or large European festivals, editors and correspondents for main international magazines, from Billboard to Pollstar, experts in the international tax domain or representatives of the most important associations and international regulation bodies will come together in Sibiu for the first edition of East European Music Conference. Along Fruzsina Szep, director of Lollapalooza Berlin or Stephan Thanscheidt – director of FKP Scorpio, among the participants there will also be present Huber, director OpenAirSt.Gallen – the largest festival in Switzerland.

Thomas Zsifkovits – co-owner of Barracuda Music, organizer of large scale festivals like Nova Rock and Frequency or concerts with important artists like Robbie Williams, Rolling Stones or Mumford And Sons, Twenty-One Pilots has also confirmed his presence.
Grimur Atlason, general manager of Iceland Airwaves, an event with over 200 bands and 250 concerts scheduled in a five days festival, with over 600 concerts added in so called “unofficial platforms”.
Chris Kemp, doctor in mass psychology and crown management, counselor for the British police, is invited to speak on security issues and crown safety in numerous conferences around the world. He spoke in front of the House of Commons in the UK about the security of the Olympic Games after 2012, when he was responsible for training the security teams for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

We well also meet in Sibiu one of the best advisors in the complicated tax domain, Dick Molenaar, who works with the best-known Dutch artists, but also with athletes and companies or institutions that work in the music industry.

Some of the discussion themes during the conferences and the seminars included in the program touch subjects like: terrorists threats and crisis situations in festivals, the role of state authorities involved in the regulation of the creative sector, their tasks and responsibilities, along with more punctual ideas including security and predictability of festivals in a continent in crisis, but also debates on more specific problems from management and crowd control to contract clauses or marketing large scale cultural events.