Romania misses out on big concerts because of poor infrastructure, organizer says

The lack of a highway connecting Budapest and Bucharest and of appropriate concert halls prevent some music names from performing in the capital, Guido Janssen of Emagic, one of the main concert organizers in the country, explained in an interview with PressOne.ro.

Bucharest would be more easily added to tours if artists did not have to travel for at least 12 to 13 hours between Budapest and Bucharest, he explained. It is also one of the reasons it is hard to bring groups that require big production to the capital. From this perspective, the western Romania city of Cluj-Napoca has become more accessible, as it is closer to Budapest or Vienna. At the same time, Bucharest lacks appropriate concert halls and the existing ones cannot seat enough people. He gave the example of U2, a group that did not want to perform in Bucharest’s Constituției Square in 2009 and for which an appropriate stadium could not be found in the capital.

Guido Janssens has been living in Romania for almost 20 years. Among the names the company he represents brought to the country are Roger Waters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Depeche Mode, Shakira, Pink, Duran Duran or Kylie Minogoue. In 2017, he launched the music festival Awake, which takes place at the Teleki Estate, close to Târgu-Mureș.

The interview can be read in full here.

(Photo: Pixabay)