Romania's largest music festival B'estfest, which has been taking place every summer for the past 7 years, was canceled this year, as the organizers failed to secure their desired lineup and headliners. This would have been the eight edition of the festival, and was initially scheduled to take place between July 31 and August 2 in Mogosoaia, near capital Bucharest.

The organizers Emagic cite the lack of synchronization with relevant artists they were planning to bring to Bucharest this year, as the main reason to cancel the event altogether. “A festival's lineup is always hard to create because of the big number of artists whose schedules have to sync. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to secure the headliners for the 2014 edition,” explained Laura Coroianu, the CEO of Emagic. She further said lowering the standards was never an option.

The Cat Empire, which was previously confirmed as one of the headliners, will still perform in Romania on July 31, but at a different location.

Those who already purchased tickets and passes for B'estfest can either get their money back, or trade them for tickets at other events organized by Emagic this year, including the Peter Gabriel concert on May 8, the Tori Amos concert on June 19, or The Cat Empire show on July 31.

The Cat Empire, created in 1999, is made of six members, Felix Riebl (percussion and vocals), Harry James Angus (trumpet and vocals), Will Hull-Brown (drums), Jamshid “Jumps” Khadiwhala (decks, percussion), Ollie McGill (keyboard and backing vocals), and Ryan Monro (bass and backing vocals), who are often accompanied by The Empire Horns, a brass duo composed of Ross Irwin (trumpet) and Kieran Conrau (trombone). They also have recurring guest musicians.

The band’s most recent album was Steal the Light, released in May 2013.

editor@romania-insider.com