ESNS ’25: Awards, hot new talent and the search for the next big thing

ESNS returns to Groningen this week. Set in the northern tip of the Netherlands, the annual four-day music festival and conference is one of the key dates on the musical calendar.

Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) runs from 15-18 January, its longstanding home since the first edition, all the way back in 1986. While the original ESNS was essentially a battle of the bands between the Netherlands and Belgium, the festival has grown to become one of the key ways the music industry gets a taste of the upcoming year.

As per usual, ESNS breaks down into a three-day festival (Eurosonic) in which European countries select delegations of their most exciting upcoming acts they want to promote on the world stage in 2025. The final day (Noorderslag) is reserved for purely Dutch acts, giving local bands and artists the chance to shine to the huge crowd.

Since its founding, ESNS has been a key stepping stone for some of the biggest artists to get international recognition. In recent years, that list of artists has included Dua Lipa, Christine and the Queens, and Fontaines D.C..

This year’s edition will feature at least 320 acts from 38 regions. They’ll perform across 40 venues, dotted across the picturesque city of Groningen for 40,000 people.

Ahead of the festival, Euronews Culture is looking forward to seeing a range of acts, from the haunting melodies of Italian singer-songwriter Daniela Pes, to the smooth stylings of English singer Ruthven, and the idiosyncratic soundscapes of Icelandic musician Sunna Margrét.

One of the key features of ESNS for the acts playing is the number of industry professionals potentially in the crowd. As part of ESNS, the festival also hosts a conference that is attended by around 4,000 industry professionals, including around 400 people representing international festivals.

When those professionals are done with the panel discussions and meetings during the day, they get stuck into the evening’s festival line-up. The alchemy of a good performance and the right kind of industry insider in the crowd gives every gig an undeniable electricity.

Just last year, one of the standout gigs came from indie band English Teacher. To a packed crowd, they brought out new single ‘Albert Road’ from their upcoming debut album ‘This Could Be Texas’. It was a spellbinding show and by the end of 2024, their album had earned a Mercury Prize.

Music Moves Europe

Another way to get a taste of exciting new acts is through the Music Moves Europe Award (MME). This annual award, run by the European Commission, is an opportunity to crown one of the most promising new acts on the continent.

Previous winners of the MME award include Stromae, ROSALÍA, Dua Lipa, Hozier, Christine and the Queens, and CMAT.

Last year’s winner, the experimental French musician Zaho de Sagazan went onto huge things in 2024, performing at the opening of the Cannes Film Festival and the Paris Olympics closing ceremony.

15 acts are nominated for the MME award. Of these, five will be selected by an international jury and receive a €10,000 prize with an additional €5,000 as a green touring voucher for the winner of the grand jury prize. Another €5,000 prize will go to the publicly voted-for MME Public Choice Award.

This year’s 15 nominees are: Boko Yout (Sweden), Daniela Pes (Italy), HILLARI (Norway), Joalin (Finland), Judeline (Spain), Kingfishr (Ireland), Loverman (Belgium), Maella (Czechia), Mina Okabe (Denmark), Naomi Sharon (Netherlands), Night Tapes (Estonia), UCHE YARA (Austria), Woomb (Bulgaria), Yamê (France), and Zimmer90 (Germany).

European Festival Awards

The MME Awards aren’t the only awards show hosted at ESNS every year. The European Festival Awards (EFAs) return for their 14th edition as they look forward to toasting to the best of 2024’s music festivals.

Due to take place on 15 January, the EFAs has categories that run the gamut from awards for the Best Major Festival – for which the likes of Primavera Sound and Lowlands are nominated, to categories that celebrate the smaller festivals and political initiatives.

Last year, Glastonbury took home the major festival award. However, this year’s nominations list is relatively sparse for UK names. The big story of the night is whether the six Belgian festival conglomerate of Dranouter, Tomorrowland, Extrema Outdoor, Pukkelpop, Graspop and Rock Werchter will win in the Take A Stand or Event Safety categories for their We Care A Lot initiative, aimed to improve safety at events.

Juhani Merimaa has already been announced as the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Known as the “man who brought rock and roll to Finland” for his five decade-long career in the Finnish music industry, Merimaa has run some of Finland’s biggest venues and festivals in a five decade-long career.

ESNSruns 15-18 January in Groningen, the Netherlands.