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. The ceremony also included some of the hottest new European artists with performances from C2C from France, Norways Bernhoft and Jake Bugg who recently won best new comer at the UK Festival Awards.
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, 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 Li seduced crowds across the Continent with "I Follow Rivers" topping the polls for Festival 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.
The full list of winners is:
The following awards were decided by the online public vote:
BEST MAJOR FESTIVAL in association with Planet Festival:
TOMORROWLAND (Belgium)
BEST MEDIUM-SIZED FESTIVAL:
HEINEKEN BALATON SOUND (Hungary)
BEST SMALL FESTIVAL:
TAURON NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL (Poland)
HEADLINER OF THE YEAR:
FOO FIGHTERS (USA)
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR in association with Eurosonic Noorderslag:
OF MONSTERS AND MEN (Iceland)
BEST EUROPEAN FESTIVAL LINE-UP in association with ID&C:
ROCK AM RING/ ROCK IM PARK (Germany)
BEST INDOOR FESTIVAL:
SENSATION (Netherlands)
FESTIVAL ANTHEM OF THE YEAR:
Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers (Sweden)
BEST NEW FESTIVAL:
ELECTRO MAGNETIC (Germany)
The following winners were chosen by an industry jury, which included prominent journalists, booking agents, managers, artists and promoters:
THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD in association with IVS and IQ Magazine:
HERMAN SCHUEREMANS (Live Nation Belgium)
PROMOTER OF THE YEAR in association with Audience Magazine:
PUKKELPOP (Belgium)
ARTISTS FAVOURITE FESTIVAL:
ROSKILDE (Denmark)
GREEN OPERATIONS AWARD in association with Go Group and Yourope:
WE LOVE GREEN (France)
Steve Jenner, Festival Awards co-founder, comments: "This edition of the European Festival Awards has been a great and much needed celebration for the industry as a united whole. A significant increase in events rallying to take part suggests a healthy display of confidence, competitiveness and pride. The staggering number of public votes received shows that people's appetites for festivals have never been greater. In the face of toughening conditions, the forecast still looks bright for Europe's festival market!"
About Festival Awards Europe:
Established in 2009, in co-operation between Festival Awards Ltd,, Yourope (the European Festival Association) and Eurosonic Noorderslag, 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. Decided by a combination of public vote and industry juries, the awards are presented at a sold out ceremony taking place at Groningen's De Oosterport in The Netherlands. Last year saw a record breaking edition with over 350,000 festival-goers casting votes and more than 200 festivals taking part. http://eu.festivalawards.com
About Yourope:
Founded in November 1998; Today representing over 80 members from 26 countries. Yourope members are dedicated to improving the European festival scene in terms of: working conditions; health and safety issues; environmental awareness; exchange of knowledge and information; promoting the cross-border exchange of live music talent. The overall aim of the association is to collaborate, share experiences and to pinpoint areas that would benefitfrom a joint approach. Having gained respect within the industry and at government level, Yourope also has the power to lobby for all legal and industry issues relating to the European festival industry on behalf of its members and together with other associations in the live music business. Yourope also focuses on other key issues for festivals ? such exchange of information regarding marketing and sponsoring, contracts, production riders or radio/TV/internet rights and more. www.yourope.org
About Eurosonic Noorderslag
Eurosonic Noorderslag is Europe's most important live music industry conference and showcase festival for European talent. With over 2800 delegates, showcases by 260 artists and a conference with 100 panels, keynote speakers, interviews and meetings, EuroSonic Noorderslag is the key exchange and networking platform for European music, European artists, international music industry professionals and organizations. Visit for more info:
All info about Tomorrowland at