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In partnership with Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS)
Every January, 300 emerging artists from all over Europe head to Groningen in the Netherlands for ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag). This four-day music showcase festival and conference has become a vital part of the international live music ecosystem. For festival bookers, it’s the place to go to find the hottest new talent from across the genre spectrum. And for up-and-coming singers and bands, it’s a tried and tested springboard for levelling up their live music career by securing global festival bookings. Here’s why ESNS is a talent showcase like no other.
It’s an event with a rich history
Founded in 1986, ESNS will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2026. That’s an incredible long-term legacy of helping up-and-coming acts to get their foot on the festival ladder. Over the years, artists including James Blake, Jake Bugg, Jessie Ware, Franz Ferdinand, Bastille, Stromae, Christine And The Queens, Robyn, Enter Shikari, Lykke Li, Seinabo Sey, CMAT and AURORA have flocked to ESNS to showcase their live chops.
ESNS has built a reputation for spotlighting the headliners of tomorrow. Dua Lipa played ESNS in 2016 and called it a “massive step up” in her career – eight years later, she headlined Glastonbury. Last year’s Reading and Leeds headliner, Hozier, used ESNS to kickstart his live career back in 2017. And three years after The xx made their ESNS debut in 2010, they launched their own music festival, Night + Day. When you smash it at ESNS, the sky really is the limit.
It gets lightning-fast results
If you build buzz at ESNS, you can be booked and busy within the year. After impressing at the 2025 event, British alt-rock disruptor Luvcat picked up 11 festival bookings including Pukkelpop in Belgium, Rock En Seine in France and Way Out West in Sweden. Two other 2025 alums – Irish indie band Cliffords and Belgian alt-pop star Sylvie Kreusch – snared nine festival bookings after delivering the goods ESNS.
And pop’s new queen of candour, recent NME The Cover star Alessi Rose, landed eight festival bookings after smashing it at the 2025 event. She also went on to open for fellow ESNS alum Dua Lipa at Wembley Stadium.
It’s a truly international event
Earlier this year, ESNS welcomed 40,000 live music fans alongside 4,000 music industry delegates, including reps from 400 festivals. Post-Brexit, it’s become even more financially and logistically challenging for grassroots UK bands to plot their own tours of Europe, so ESNS provides an increasingly vital lifeline. It puts them in front of industry gatekeepers from all over the world, helping to propel them onto the global stage with four days of hardcore gigging. After performing at ESNS in 2016, Irish rock band The Academic said approvingly: “We have never played so many shows in such a little space of time.”
It’s a fun and fast-paced few days for everyone involved. Roel Coppen, a booker at Best Kept Secret festival in the Netherlands, says he loves ESNS for a simple reason: “I meet artists I might overlook otherwise.” Stephan Reichmann, founder of German festival Haldern Pop, believes ESNS is “so valuable” because he gets “to meet other bookers and exchange ideas”. And Belgian shoegaze band The Haunted Youth cherish their memories of ESNS 2023 because it led to “so many cool shows” in their subsequent career.
It’s part of a wider talent network
Every artist who performs at ESNS automatically joins the European Talent Exchange. Conducted in collaboration with Eurovision organisers the EBU and YOUROPE, the European Festival Association, this door-opening programme connects artists to a network of 130 music festivals, 31 media partners and European music export offices across the globe.
Frankly, the stats speak for themselves. Since 2003, the European Talent Exchange has helped 2,295 European artists from 36 countries to play 5,709 shows at 208 partner festivals in 48 countries. If you’re an ambitious young band or singer-songwriter, it’s a programme you want to be part of.
The 2026 line-up is already lit
Among the 200 artists already confirmed for next year’s ESNS are Suffolk rapper EV, Scottish indie-soul singer-songwriter Becky Sikasa, Wigan shoegazer TTSSFU, Norfolk indie-pop sensation Nadia Kadek, County Wicklow rockers Florence Road, Irish folk star Dove Ellis, indie titans Keo and Latvian ravers Might Delete Later. And there are still more to come for ESNS 2026, the festival’s 40th anniversary event, which will take place in Groningen from 14-17 January. Whether you’re a fellow emerging artist, a huge live music fan, or a savvy industry insider, you won’t want to miss it. It’s your chance to see future festival headliners from all over Europe at the very start of their international live journey.
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