Joe GallopESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag), a music conference and showcase festival in Groningen, Netherlands, has released details of its conference and its initial lineup of musicians.
The first 60 acts announced for the physical event, which takes place 19-22 January, include Sylvie Kreusch, For Those I Love, Daði Freyr, ascendant vierge, Froukje, Mimi Webb, Meskerem Mees and Travis Birds.
The ESNS conference will include a keynote interview with Matt Schwarz, MD of DreamHaus – part of Eventim Live and organisers of festivals such as Rock am Ring and Rock im Park in Germany. Also speaking at the event is psychologist Anne Löhr, co-founder of German organisation Mental Health in Music.
The overall theme of the conference programme is Building Back Better Together, with a focus on how the music industry can recover from the pandemic.
Organisers of ESNS, Noorderslag Foundation, said the event has affiliated itself with the Green Deal Circular Festivals – a collaboration with European festivals that aims to create fully circular festivals by 2025. ESNS is including a Solidarity Eco Tax for the first time, in the form of an additional contribution for all visitors, in an effort to offset the CO2 emissions generated by travel to and from the event.
ESNS director Dago Houben said, “ESNS is an event representing the live industry in which networking is key. It is therefore inevitable that, now that the restrictions of the pandemic are diminishing, we are going to set up a physical event. We have found that there is a need for this among both artists and delegates. In keeping with this year’s adage, Building Back Better Together, we are organising ESNS in physical form and taking some successful digital elements from the last edition with us.”
The event will have a focus on Spain, across both the conference and the showcase festival.
The full ESNS lineup is available here. More acts are to be announced in the coming weeks.