2025 summer festival line-ups reveal immediate benefits of European Talent Exchange

08.05.25

As the 2025 summer festival season kicks off, a wave of European Talent Exchange partner festivals unveil their line-ups, highlighting a clear and immediate impact for artists who performed at ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag) earlier this year. So far in 2025, European Talent Exchange presented a total of 256 shows by 114 acts from 28 countries, playing at 78 festivals in 30 countries.

From Sziget in Hungary to Coachella in the US, major festivals across Europe and beyond are locking in fresh talent discovered at ESNS 2025. Think Reeperbahn Festival (Germany), Ypsigrock Festival (Italy), Paléo Festival Nyon (Switzerland), Rock For People (Czechia), Rock Werchter (Belgium), Electric Castle (Romania), Roskilde Festival (Denmark), Mad Cool Festival (Spain), Best Kept Secret (Netherlands) angd Øyafestivalen (Norway) - all featuring European artists front and centre in their line-ups.

European artists take centre stage

Confirmed artists making their way from the ESNS stage to the international spotlight include Luvcat (9 bookings) and Big Special (7 bookings) from the U.K., Judeline from Spain (4 bookings), Daufødt from Norway (3 bookings), Erika Rein from Slovakia (3 bookings), Sylvie Kreusch from Belgium (7 bookings), Boko Yout from Sweden (5 bookings), Cliffords from Ireland (8 bookings), Arp Frique & The Perpetual Singers from the Netherlands (3 bookings), Carpetman from Ukraine (4 bookings) and Woomb from Bulgaria (4 bookings). These names represent the future sound of Europe; fresh, bold and unbound by borders.

This wave of bookings proves how powerful European Talent Exchange is, fueling the rise of emerging artists beyond borders. Every artist who plays at ESNS automatically joins the European Talent Exchange programme. You can track their bookings at 130 partner festivals from all across Europe and beyond via ESNS Radar.

European Talent Exchange: a joint force of the music ecosystem

European Talent Exchange is dedicated to helping European artists secure bookings at festivals across and beyond Europe. In collaboration with YOUROPE and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the initiative connects artists to a network of around 130 partner festivals and benefits from the support of 31 media partners to amplify their promotion.

Additionally, European Talent Exchange unites 23 members and five associated partners, including 26 export offices, to create a powerful network for talent development. The platform is coordinated by ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag). European Talent Exchange is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.

You can find all the information about European Talent Exchange on the website.

European artists can apply here to play at ESNS 2026 from now on till September 1st 2025.

About ESNS

ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag) is an independent platform that puts European music talent in the global spotlight. ESNS offers European artists career-defining opportunities to break through and become tomorrow's headliners.

Founded in 1986, ESNS will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2026, which will take place from January 14 - 17 in Groningen, the Netherlands.

Pre-register for ESNS 2026 here.