Christopher BarrettThe sold-out, 37th edition of Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) saw more than 40,000 festivalgoers and 4,250 industry professionals from over 50 countries gather at the event in Groningen, the Netherlands.
The event, which ran from 18-21 January, involved performances by 315 emerging European artists and involved more than 150 conference panels, keynotes and networking events.
The not-for-profit event is designed to give European artists a steppingstone to international success. It includes the ESNS Exchange initiative, which was launched in 2003 to help European acts get booked for festivals outside their home countries. Last year it resulted in the booking of 149 acts for 357 shows across 86 festivals in 28 countries.
ESNS saw pop act Dua Lipa presented with an Excellence Award, during a keynote session with Lipa and her manager father Dukagjin Lipa (pictured), to mark her success as an ESNS Exchange Artist. Lipa first performed at ESNS in 2016.
Eurosonic Noorderslag also included the European Festival Awards, with Roskilde Festival being among the big winners. The Danish event’s team picked up The Impossible without Youth award, Best Major Festival and Lifetime Achievement awards. The festival celebrated its 50th anniversary last year with a 130,000-capacity edition.
ESNS director Dago Houben said, “The past week has been exceptional. The sector has been struggling and is still recovering from the pandemic, and we see our role as the platform for the European music sector as more important than ever. This edition addressed so many related topics and presented such a diverse and outstanding line-up of European talent. We came back stronger than ever with so many first-time visitors and a sold-out edition of the festival and conference.”