NEWS
And the Winners are...
Best European Festivals, Artists and Organisers Unveiled at the first ever European Festival Awards
Presented by YOUROPE and Virtual Festivals Europe in cooperation with EuroSonic Noorderslag
2009’s greatest events, artists and organisers in Europe’s music festival marketplace can now be revealed. The European Festival Awards are the first poll of their kind, voted for by a combination of public vote and industry jury.
More than 100,000 votes were cast by fans on European festival portal Virtual Festivals Europe (eu.virtualfestivals.com) to decide the winners in the following categories:
• Best Major Festival: Heineken Open'er Festival (Poland)
• Best Medium-Sized Festival: Dour Festival (Belgium)
• Best Small Festival: Cactusfestival (Belgium)
• Best New European Festival: Openfields Festival (Belgium)
• Best Line-Up: Rock Werchter (Belgium)
• Festival Anthem Of The Year (in association with EBU): Coldplay - "Viva la Vida"
• Best Artist Newcomer (in association with Eurosonic): White Lies
• Best Headline Artist: The Prodigy
The following winners were chosen by an industry jury which included prominent journalists, booking agents, managers, artists and promoters:
• Green ‘N’ Clean Festival (in association with Yourope): Öya Festivalen (Norway)
• Artists’ Favourite Festival: Rock Werchter (Belgium)
• Promoter Of The Year: Herman Schueremans (Live Nation, Belgium)
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Jan Smeets (Pinkpop, The Netherlands)
The awards were presented at a gala ceremony which took place at the Grand Theatre in Groningen, The Netherlands, as part of the Eurosonic Noorderslag Conference and Festival which featured special live performances from upcoming UK rockers Band Of Skulls and acclaimed Swedish rock singer Adiam Dymott.
Check out the pressrelease
