Tomorrowland Europe’s Best

Belgium’s Tomorrowland is Europe’s best major festival, according to fans who cast more than 1 million votes for the 2012 European Festival Awards.

One of Western Europe’s smallest countries had a good night at De Oosterport in Groningen, The Netherlands, Jan. 9.

Pukkelpop, which was nearly wiped off the calendar by a freak hurricane in 2011, won the best promoter award. It had previously been announced that Live Nation Belgium chief Herman Schueremans had won the lifetime achievement award.

The team behind Hungary’s Sziget Festival, which was best major festival in 2011, didn’t go home empty-handed. Their Balaton Sound won best medium-sized festival.

The best small festival was Poland’s Tauron New Music Festival, which had won the same award in 2010.

The festival with the best lineup was Germany’s twinned Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park, while the artists’ favourite bash Roskilde Festival in Denmark. The best headliner award went to Foo Fighters.

The Eurosonic-Noorderslag showcase conference that began the day after the festival awards and ran through Jan. 12 attracted 3,250 delegates, 1,500 coming from outside The Netherlands – a 36 percent increase on last year.

“After coming to Eurosonic for three years, I honestly feel it is not only the best but also the most productive music convention and showcase in the world,” said Spotify director of economics Will Page, during a presentation showing how the music streaming service has impacted on Dutch music piracy.

“What makes it unique is that it takes place at a time when festival bookers are actually booking – providing a unique platform for emerging talent to perform across Europe this summer,” he said.

Apart from a programme that had panels on every conceivable music business issue, the weekend in Groningen also offers 250 or so bands a unique opportunity to put themselves on the European festival map.

The unique thing about Eurosonic is that it’s hard to find anyone who has a bad word to say about it.

The Buma Cultuur team that put together the annual event is entitled to look around the European conference map and be sincerely flattered by the number of times it’s been imitated.

There’s Hamburg Reeperbahn Festival in Germany and Tallinn Music Week in Estonia, which both do it well, but also springing up in recent years – and based on similar lines – are relatively new gatherings in Austria, Finland, Lithuania, and Bulgaria.

Whether it was one of the best Eurosonics ever staged is a matter of opinion, a suggestion that drew a wry smile from creative director Peter Smidt, who was at least happy in the knowledge that he and his team had produced another very good one.