Classix Festival 2026, with a concert program held between March 1 and 8, concluded on March 19, marking the end of the extended Classix in Focus program, which included dialogues, exhibitions, and cultural interventions.

Under the theme Art & Mind, this year’s edition proposed a journey that went beyond the format of a music festival, integrating, alongside concerts, interdisciplinary dialogues, exhibitions, and educational activities.

Over the course of nearly three weeks, Classix brought together over 72 artists from 17 countries, including Romania, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, Norway, Israel, Canada, Colombia, the USA, Great Britain, and Australia, active in fields such as music, visual arts, new media, and artistic production.

The program included 9 concerts, 2 exhibitions accompanied by 2 openings, 3 panels and a dialogue, a showcase, a guided tour, a flash mob, and a pop-up concert, along with cultural interventions in public spaces and educational activities carried out through the masterclass program. Additionally, a showcase dedicated to the three Classix in Art fellows was organized, alongside 57 masterclass sessions held by 17 internationally renowned artists, attended by 98 active and passive participants.

Events took place in multiple venues across Iași, including the “Holy Virgin Mary, Queen” Roman Catholic Cathedral, the Student Culture House, the Palace of Culture, the “Mihai Eminescu” Central University Library, MINA Museum, Union Hall, the “Vasile Alecsandri” National Theatre, Braunstein Palace, the “Vasile Pogor” Museum – Junimea House, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University – Hall of Lost Footsteps, as well as alternative spaces like Acaju, Negru Zi, or Atrium Palas Iași.

Over 200 volunteers and professionals from Romania’s creative industries were involved in organizing the festival. Throughout the entire period, over 10,000 participants attended Classix events, confirming the increased interest in this year’s program. In the online environment, festival content exceeded 75,000 views, and live broadcasts will remain available on the official Classix Festival Facebook and YouTube pages until mid-April.

Patricia Roxana Brohanschi, General Director and co-founder of Classix Festival, states: “This year’s edition was about the way we choose to be present—in music, in dialogue, and in our relationships with others. We wanted to build a coherent path where concerts, meetings, and cultural interventions naturally complement each other and offer the public not just artistic experiences, but also space for reflection. We are delighted by the increased public interest and the fact that, year after year, Classix is becoming more of a platform where artists, ideas, and the community meet and evolve. I thank everyone who contributed to this edition—from artists, partners, collaborators, volunteers, and spectators—for the trust and energy they brought to this project.”

The concert program brought to the fore a series of premiere productions and diverse curatorial formats, built around the dialogue between tradition and modernity. The audience heard over 50 works by more than 40 composers, in a journey spanning different styles and aesthetics, from Baroque and Romanticism to Modernism and contemporary creation. The program included premiere works, an opera in concert produced as a Romanian-Norwegian co-production designed specifically for young audiences, as well as immersive concerts that expanded the listening experience beyond the classic concert hall convention. Diversity was also reflected in the performing ensembles, from duos or trios to quartets and chamber ensembles, shaping the direction of the contemporary classical adventure.

In parallel, the Classix in Focus program complemented the festival experience through a series of meetings dedicated to the relationship between art, society, and critical thinking. The public participated in events such as Cities, Culture & Power, ARTing Minds, and the conversation Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy in the Global Macroeconomy, alongside the Black Coffee, White Pages dialogue. The program also included cultural interventions in public spaces, such as the pop-up concert by Esbjerg Ensemble, and a guided tour dedicated to the city’s cultural memory.

The two exhibitions presented during the edition, the interactive installation The Singing Garden Symphony and the exhibition Gustav Klimt and the Künstler-Compagnie at Peleș, extended the festival experience beyond the concert space and remained open to the public until March 19.

The Classix in Art artistic creation scholarship program continued this year with the support of the main partner, BRD Groupe Société Générale. Now in its fourth edition, the program has supported 18 projects developed between 2021–2025, contributing to the success of emerging artists in Romania. This year, 3 scholarships worth 3000 euros each were awarded, presented in a dedicated showcase during the festival. The winners are: Andrei Popovici (Iași) – Visual Arts, Alina Tofan (Bucharest) – Performing Arts, and Mariana Preda (Dâmbovița) – Music.

Following this edition, new directions and projects are set to be announced, consolidating Classix’s effort to build a continuously evolving cultural platform. Those interested can follow the festival’s evolution and future initiatives on classix.ro, on official communication channels, and by subscribing to the dedicated newsletter.

Since 2020, Classix Festival has become one of the most important independent cultural events in Eastern Europe, bringing together between 2020-2025 over 350 international artists from 23 countries in 49 concerts, 23 panels, 193 masterclass sessions, 6 exhibitions, 10 short film screenings, and providing 18 creation scholarships. Classix has so far attracted over 30,000 spectators in halls and over 365,000 online participants, confirming its role as a catalyst for cultural dialogue and artistic innovation.

Organizers: Asociația Industrii Creative, Showberry
Main Partner: BRD Groupe Société Générale
Cultural Partners: German Cultural Center, French Institute of Romania in Iași, Polish Institute, Austrian Cultural Forum, Italian Cultural Institute in Bucharest
Institutional Partners: Roman Catholic Diocese of Iași, “Mihai Eminescu” Central University Library Iași, Iași National Opera, “Moldova” State Philharmonic Iași, “Moldova” National Museum Complex – Palace of Culture Iași, “Luceafărul” Theatre for Children and Youth Iași, National Museum of Romanian Literature Iași, “Regina Maria” Municipal Museum Iași, “George Enescu” National University of Arts Iași, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași, “Octav Băncilă” National College of Art, MINA Iași
Diplomatic Partners: The Swiss Embassy, Swiss Sponsors’ Fund
Sponsors: Schweppes, Basware
Strategic Partner: DAC Music Performance
Hospitality Partners: Gramma, Vitamin Aqua, BMW APAN Motors Iași, Soft & Grace, Noir Coffee Roasters, Hotel Bellaria, Hotel Unirea, Oddity, Acaju, Iași.Travel, indus, Pizza Di Napo, Andalu, Chalette Events, Bindu, Palas Iași
Lifestyle Partners: Chotronette, Tudor Tailor, Studio Esthétique, Serenity Head Spa
Promotion Partners: WINK Public Multimedia, Printco, Iași International Airport, Fab Lab Iași, Iulius Group
Media Partners: Radio România Cultural, Radio Iași, Radio Clasic, Ercis FM, Viva FM, AGERPRES, Bookhub, Cărturești, Elle.ro, Fashion Premium Magazine, Happ.ro, Haute Culture, InfoMusic, Libertatea, Liternet, Iași4u, Observator Cultural, Revista BIZ, Ringer, Romania Journal, Ziarul de Iași, Zile și Nopți

Cultural project co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN).

Asociația Industrii Creative is the organizer of the Rocanotherworld and Classix festivals in Iași, aiming for the cultural revitalization of the city, engaging creative communities, and involvement in the civil life of society through actions that promote a proactive, contributory, and participatory spirit.

Showberry, a member of AROC (Romanian Association of Concert and Cultural Event Organizers), is a winning startup of the “Invest in People!” program. Since 2015, it has been developing cultural and creative projects, being one of the main promoters of public concerts and themed events in the North-East region of Romania. Since 2016, it has been the co-organizer of the Rocanotherworld festival, and since 2020, of the Classix Festival, alongside the Asociația Industrii Creative.

Website: www.classixfestival.ro
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/classixFestival/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/classix.ro