Ladies First For ETEP

Danish singer-songwriter MØ has been booked for 13 festivals, while the UK’s Kate Tempest and French duo Ibeyi each have a dozen. Bridie Monds-Watson, aka Soak, is in fourth place with 11 festivals, alongside 19-year-old Norwegian Aurora Aksnes.

The first evidence that there are any male acts in this year’s programme comes in sixth place, where British electronica trio Years & Years has 10 shows.

“It’s great to have so many great female talents high up in the ETEP list,” programme organizer Ruud Berends told Pollstar. Although female acts have previously done well through ETEP, with Anna Calvi wining in 2011, there has never been anything like the clean sweep currently taking place.

CEETEP, the Central and Eastern European Talent Exchange Programme, marked its final year at Serbia’s Exit Festival July 9-12. It was set up in 2011 to provide extra help to acts from the former Eastern bloc countries, providing them with festival shows in their own region, but it’s subsequently been decided that their interests are better served by once again becoming part of ETEP.