IFF 2025: ‘Amplifying The Values Of Festivals In Polarized Times’

IFF returns to London, England, Sept. 9-11, in association with OFFLIMITS Festival. The invitation-only event will welcome 1,000 festival bookers and booking agents, offering them a chance to meet in person, do business, and talk shop.

While the meeting aspect is certainly one of the most important benefits of hosting IFF each year, there’s also a packed program of talks and discussions to amplify all the important topics moving the festival world in 2025. ILMC head Greg Parmley breaks it all down.

Pollstar: What are the major developments in the festival world that have affected the way you put together IFF this year?
Greg Parmley: The last two seasons in the festival scene have been marked by cancellations and closures, huge sell-out crowds and everything in between. It’s without doubt the most competitive part of the live music business today, and clearly the rules that could once be relied on are no longer working. While the boom in stadium touring has been eating into the availability of some top tier headliners, a new cohort of young, mainly female, headliners have been wowing huge crowds across the European festival season showing that the talent pipeline is perhaps healthier than people feared.

One of the key issues facing festivals and booking agents this year has been the growing political awareness and activism of artists and fans that has led to a whole new aspect of things for the industry to think about. Whether it is about who owns a festival, what sponsors that festival chooses to work with, or what artists are allowed to say on stage – all can have very serious repercussions. Given the importance of this growing area we will be hosting a number of sessions at IFF looking at the socio-cultural role that festivals and artists can play in society.

But with all that said, you’ve just got to look at any of the images from hundreds of festival fields this summer to know that the sector remains a magical part of the broader industry.

What are some major festival trends that have shaped the program of IFF this year?
Much of the IFF agenda reflects major trends in the festival business at the moment, so key discussions this year include navigating politics, boycotts and amplifying the values of festivals in polarised times. And with the festival sector having been unpredictable at best for the last few years, one of the conversations is around how festivals can leverage their brand value to diversify and grow. Reflecting IFF’s position at the intersection of festivals and booking agencies, one of the key sessions this year sees four top agents detailing the festival strategies used by some of the world’s top artists – Olivia Rodrigo, Justice, Sam Fender and Fontaines DC.

What are new additions to the IFF program in 2025?
On top of the regular program of booking agency showcases and agency pop up offices, we’ve programmed more conference sessions and workshops this year, plus additional speedmeeting sessions, and a variety of focussed mixer events across the main event campus which we hope will bring people together.

Our headline sponsor OFFLIMITS Festival is hosting one, as is Montreux Jazz Festival and Rock am Ring, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Then larger festival promoters like FKP Scorpio are presenting plans for their 2026 summer season to all the attending booking agents, and Rostr are revealing the latest European festival summer report that’s been run in collaboration with IQ.

Who’s the keynote interview with, and what do you expect from it?
We have two this year – I’m very much looking forward to speaking to Jim King, who in the time since we announced his keynote was promoted from head of AEG’s European Festival division to CEO of AEG Presents UK. So it’s a very timely conversation with one of the smartest operators in the festival business. And CAA’s Maria May will be sitting down with the Exit Festival team about their quarter century in the business. Again, with Exit facing such huge political challenges this year, it’s another timely conversation.

Why is IFF in 2025 more relevant than ever?
Broadly, the more time we spend behind a desk or on Zoom calls in this post-pandemic new work order, the more these key moments that bring people together matter. But specific to IFF, it’s bringing an invited list of buyers and sellers together at the exact moment in the year when festival line ups are being confirmed and announced. IFF doesn’t pretend to have something for everyone; it’s a narrow and singular focus that, I hope, keeps it relevant.

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