ILMC Announces 2026 Dates

The 38th International Live Music Conference (ILMC) returns to London, England, Feb. 24-27, 2026.

The four-day conference is expected to bring together some 1,700 delegates attending the core ILMC conference, and a total of 3,000 professionals attending ILMC’s rich offering of sideshows, including Touring Entertainment Live, the day dedicated to touring family shows and exhibitions, Futures Forum, the day dedicated to this industry’s next generation of professionals, and Soho Calling, the night dedicated to the next generation of headline artists.

As usual, ILMC’s organizers have come up with a theme for the upcoming edition, which will be School Sports Day in 2026. In the organizers’ own words: “In a business where rivalry can be all too serious, ILMC 38 is leaning into the lighter side of competition next year, channelling the school sports day spirit for three days of relay-tionship building, high-stakes networking, and gold-medal deal-making.”

ILMC is supported by Live Nation and Ticketmaster (platinum partners); Legends Global and CTS Eventim (gold partners); Showsec, Tysers Live, DEAG Entertainment Group, BWO Entertainment and AXS (silver partners), and Theory Eleven Entertainment, another key partner.

Legends Global will again support ILMC’s Alia Dann Swift Bursary Scheme, which offers a complimentary conference pass and mentoring opportunities to 30 young professionals.

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Greg Parmley, head of ILMC, commented: “We’re proud that ILMC is now the largest gathering of live music professionals in the world and we’ll be pulling out all the stops to make our 2026 edition the best yet.

“Elements such as Touring Entertainment Live, Futures Forum and Soho Calling are growing each year, while the core ILMC conference remains the place where the most important issues are debated and the biggest deals are done. We will be announcing some major new strands in the coming weeks which are set to ensure that this year’s ILMC is truly globally-focussed.”

Touring Entertainment LIVE, dedicated to the global business of big brand live entertainment, exhibitions and touring family shows, takes place on Wednesday, Feb. 25 .

ILMC’s Central London showcase event, Soho Calling, is expanding again and will take place across eight music venues on the evening of Wednesday, Feb. 25.

On Thursday, Feb. 26, The Arthur Awards will be expanded to bring more than 500 guests together for the gala ceremony compered by CAA’s London co-head Emma Banks.

Friday, Feb. 27, sees hundreds of future leaders take centre stage, with ILMC Futures Forum inviting emerging executives to join ILMC delegates for a dedicated day focussed on issues of particular relevance to those earlier in their live business journey.

Kicking off the four-day conference on Tuesday. Feb. 24, is the Greener Events and Innovations conference, run in partnership with A Greener Future, where industry leaders come to discuss the most important sustainability issues impacting the live events industry.

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