European Festival Awards - and the winners are .......
With outstanding live performances from Jake Bugg, C2C and Bernhoft, the 2013 European Festival Awards, held at the De Oosterpoort at the EuroSonic conference and festival in Groningen in the Netherlands, were a sell out success last night (January 9th). And, as host Ben Challis said just thirteen times to events, organisers and artistes from across Europe as the Awards were handed out, the winners are:
BEST NEW FESTIVAL WINNER: Electro Magnetic (Germany)
BEST INDOOR FESTIVAL WINNER: Sensation (Netherlands)
FESTIVAL ANTHEM WINNER: Lykke Ly I Follow Rivers
GREEN OPERATIONS AWARD WINNER: We Love Green (France)
BEST EUROPEAN FESTIVAL LINE-UP WINNER: Rock am Ring / Rock im Park (Germany)
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR WINNER: Of Monsters and Men
ARTISTS’ FAVOURITE FESTIVAL WINNER: Roskilde (Denmark)
HEADLINER OF THE YEAR WINNER: Foo Fighters
PROMOTER OF THE YEA WINNER: Pukkelpop (Belgium)
BEST SMALL FESTIVAL WINNER: Tauron New Music Festival (Poland)
BEST MEDIUM-SIZED FESTIVAL WINNER: Heineken Balaton Sound (Hungary)
BEST MAJOR FESTIVAL WINNER: Tomorrowland (Belgium)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER: Herman Schueremans (Live Nation, Belgium)
The Awards were organised by Festival Awards Limited, Yourope and EuroSonic Noorderslag and sponsored by Planet Festival, Intelligent Venue Solutions and ID&C.
The European Border Breakers Awards were also handed out at the preceding show in the Grote Zaal hosted by Jools Holland, and the international winners are
- Nabiha (Denmark)
- Ewert and The Two Dragons (Estonia)
- French Films (Finland)
- C2C (France) – overall winners of the public choice award
- Emeli Sandé (Great Britain)
- Of Monsters and Men (Iceland)
- Dope D.O.D. (Netherlands)
- Amor Electro (Portugal)
- Juan Zelada (Spain)
- Niki and the Dove (Sweden)
More on the EBBAs on the Eurosonic-Noorderslag website
The best European music festivals, artists and promoters of 2012 were revealed at a sold-out ceremony, which took place at Groningen’s De Oosterport in The Netherlands, on the opening night of Eurosonic Noorderslag.
Decided by a combination of public vote and industry juries, Festival Awards Europe is the only event solely dedicated to recognising the contributions and achievements of the event organisers and performing artists that generate billions of Euros for local economies and brighten up the summer for tens of millions of festival-goers each year.
This year’s awards were a heightened celebration of triumph over adversity in the wake of a challenging year, which has seen the festival market shaken by economic instability, claims of saturation, some high profile cancellations and the some of the wettest weather on record.
A record number of fans turned out to cast their support in the form of over 1 million public votes, showing that passion for festivals across the continent has never been stronger.
For the first time in Festival Awards history, electronic music arose to take the crown for Best Major Festival, courtesy of Belgium’s mighty Tomorrowland – widely hailed as the festival success story of the year. Dance music also triumphed in the categories for Best Indoor Festival (Sensation, Netherlands) and Best New Festival (Germany’s Electro Magnetic).
Best Medium-Sized Festival was won by Heineken Balaton Sound in Hungary (smaller cousin of last year’s Best Major Festival, Sziget) whilst the title for Best Small Festival was taken back by 2010 winners Tauron New Music Festival in Poland (pictured) – a festival that took place in a disused coal mine, highlighting the creativity and diversity of Europe’s contemporary modern festival landscape.
Best European Line-Up and Artists’ Favourite Festival went to established giants in the form of German twin titans Rock am Ring/Rock im Park and Denmark’s colossal Roskilde, respectively, the latter approaching its 43rd edition this summer. The two most important industry-facing awards will both be taken back to Belgium with the team behind Pukkelpop declared Promoter Of The Year - a heartwarming accolade in light of the tragedies that befell the event when it was hit by a freak storm last year. And, as previously announced, Herman Schueremans from the country’s division of Live Nation received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The USA even managed to scoop an award with Foo Fighters voted Headliner Of The Year, whilst Sweden’s Lykke Ly seduced crowds across the Continent with ‘I Follow Rivers’ topping the polls forFestival Anthem Of The Year. Not content with just winning an award at the European Border Breaker Awards in the same town earlier that evening, Of Monsters And Men sealed their title as one of Iceland’s most promising music exports by claiming the award for Best Newcomer.
