In Conversation With Edmond Lenarth, Electric Castle

In the run-up to IFF 2026, we’re catching up With festivals attending this year’s event to explore the ideas, trends and experiences shaping the wider festival landscape.

What’s your advice for fellow bookers navigating the market in your region right now?

Be very honest about your market reality, not the one you wish you had, but the one you actually work on. Romania, and Eastern Europe more broadly, still sits in a different economic and cultural bracket compared to Western Europe. Artists’ fees have escalated globally, but ticket price ceilings haven’t kept the same pace in our region.

So the game becomes one of curation and timing, not just acquisition. You need to catch artists at the right moment, meaning just before or just after their peak hype cycle. 

And maybe most importantly: protect your identity. It’s tempting to chase global trends, but long-term value comes from consistency. People should know why they come to your festival beyond just headliners.

What does a strong agent-booker relationship actually look like in practice?

It’s built on transparency, not just friendliness. A good relationship is when both sides can say “this doesn’t work” early, without wasting weeks. I’d much rather have a direct “this fee won’t land in your market” than a long negotiation that was never realistic.

Also, consistency matters more than a single big deal. Agents remember if you deliver, and that includes sales, production, execution. And on our side, we remember who understands our market constraints and work within them.

The best relationships feel almost like long-term partnerships: you grow artists within a territory together, not just trade dates.

Are there genres or artists on the rise that the wider industry hasn’t caught up with yet?

There’s definitely a shift toward more emotionally driven electronic music, not necessarily peak-time EDM, but melodic, introspective, even cinematic electronic acts that translate well in a festival context.

At the same time, there’s a quiet but very real appetite for crossover acts, like artists that sit between indie, alternative, and electronic. The “in-between” space is getting stronger.

Also, female-led electronic scenes are evolving fast, especially in house and afro-house, and audiences are responding very well. It’s not just a trend; it’s becoming a structural shift.

How would you explain IFF to someone who has never been, and why do you think fellow professionals should come?

IFF feels less like a marketplace and more like a working environment where conversations actually happen. For professionals, especially from emerging markets, that’s incredibly valuable. You’re not just pitching or being pitched to, you’re building understanding. And that’s what leads to better deals later.

What are you most looking forward to about attending IFF again?

The moments outside the official schedule: dinners, late-night conversations, a few drinks, running into the same people multiple times. That’s where you move from transactional to relational.

And every year, there’s at least one unexpected connection or idea that ends up shaping the next edition of the festival. That’s where the real value lies.