ESNS23 welcomed over 40,000 festival visitors and over 4,250 industry professionals across its sold-out festival and conference.
The 37th edition of Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS), which took place between January 18 and 21, took place in Groningen for the first time in two years. The music line-up featured 315 emerging artists from 39 European countries, while the conference programme presented over 150 panels, keynotes and networking opportunities.
Dago Houben, director of ESNS, 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.”
There were keynotes with a number of prominent industry figures as well as an appearance from artist Dua Lipa, who was awarded the Excellence Award for being the most successful act to benefit from the ESNS Exchange scheme.
Robert Meijerink, head of programme on ESNS Exchange, said: “Looking at the first bookings results of ESNS Exchange, the European Talent Exchange Programme, we are seeing a beautiful country spread. With most mentions for artists like Bolis Pupul, Deki Alem, Heartworms, Aime Simone, Club Makumba, eee gee, Monikaze, Alina Pash, Gurriers, Duo Ruut and Marina Herlop.
“We look forward to seeing how emerging European acts show up in the coming festival summer.”
The 38th edition of ESNS will take place from January 17-20 next year.