Dour Tops For New Talent

Dour Festival in Belgium is the world’s most influential festival when it comes to discovering new talent, according to a survey by Last.FM.

The music and social networking website analysed the lineups of more than 1,000 festivals worldwide, and talked to more than 2,800 artists and several thousand fans.

The festival organisers said it’s the Dour festivalgoers’ open-mindedness, trust, and love of great music that’s given them “the freedom to unearth new jewels time and again.”

“We would also like to thank all the agents we work with across the world for helping to make Dour the best of the future,” they said.

The festival on the eastern border of the country attracts about 70 percent of its visitors from Belgium, 16 percent from France and 5 percent each from The Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

In January 2010, it won the prize for the best medium-sized festival at the European Festival Awards.

The lineup for this year’s Dour Festival July 12-15 includes The Flaming Lips, Ministry, Franz Ferdinand, Bon Iver and Selah Sue.