ESNS confirms digital festival and full conference line-up

Organisers of European artist showcase festival and conference ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag), which usually takes places in venues across Groningen in northern Holland, have announced the full line up for the event that will be delivered online for a second consecutive year due to concerns around Covid-19.

Scheduled to run from 19-22 January, ESNS will feature an artist showcase festival featuring performances from a diverse range of European acts including Isle of Wight duo Wet Leg, K.ZIA from Germany, Portugal’s Carla Prata, Belgium’s Meskerem Mees and Alina Pash from Ukraine.

With the theme Building Back Better Together, the ESNS 2022 conference will focus on subjects such as sustainability and the recovery of the music industry.

European Commission executive VP Frans Timmermans, who is responsible for The Green Deal, will open the conference with a keynote speech on 19 January. Other keynote speakers include Marjan Minnesma, director of Urgenda.

The Green Deal will be the topic of conference panel session The EU’s Green Deal – Where does the music fit? Among those on the panel will be Claire O’Neill (A Greener Festival), Niklas Nienass (European Parliament), Holger Jan Schmidt (Yourope), Laurence Graff (European Commission), and moderated by Greener Event’s Linnéa Svensson.

A panel exploring what this year is likely to hold for festivals will include Association of Independent Festivals CEO Paul Reed, European festival association Yourope general secretary Christof Huber, FPK Scorpio CEO Stephan Thanscheidt, Primavera Sound head of international press Marta Pallarès and ARTmania founder Codruta Vulcu.

Veteran music journalist Emmanuel Legrand will moderate the Recovery of the Music Sector – Where Are We Now? panel, with speakers including Open’er Festival head Mikolaj Ziółkowski and Susanne Hollmann, deputy head of the Cultural Policy Unit at the European Commission.

Also joining the ESNS conference line-up will be agents Hannah Shogbola (United Talent), Natasha Gregory (Mother Artists), Sally Dunstone (Primary Talent International) and Whitney Boateng (WME) for a session moderated by CAA’s Maria May.

There will also be an interview with Merck Mercuriades, former manager of Beyoncé, Elton John and Mary J. Blige, and ESNS will include European emerging talent award ceremony the Music Moves Europe Awards. The full ESNS line-up is available here.