The great and the good of the continent’s festival scene were honoured at the 2024 European Festival Awards.

Held last night as part of the Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) conference and showcase in Groningen, the Netherlands, the ceremony saw 14 winners crowned, including Poland’s Open’er (Best Major Festival), France’s Hellfest (Line-Up of the Year) and Vlad Yaremchuk & Music Saves Ukraine (Award for Excellence and Passion).

Festivals from over 30 countries took part, with more than 300,000 single votes cast by the public. Recipients included Lifetime Achievement Award winner Juhani Merimaa, who has earned himself the title of the “man who brought rock and roll to Finland” for his work on festivals such as Ankkarock, Ruisrock and Tuska.

Merima was also involved in running Finnish music venue Tavastia Klubi since the 70s up until 2023 when he stepped down as promoter and CEO.

Here are all the winners in the 14 categories of the European Festival Awards 2024

The Take a Stand Award
Presented by: Take a Stand
EXIT Festival, RS

Line-Up of the Year
Presented by: IQ Magazine
Hellfest, FR

The Event Safety Award
Presented by: YES Group
Timișoara – Capital of Culture, RO

Agent of the Year
Anna Bewers, Wasserman Music

Best Small Festival
Gladiolen Festival, BE

Newcomer of the Year
Presented by: ESNS
Benson Boone, US

The Brand Activation Award
Lowlands & IKEA, NL

Best Medium-Sized Festival
Montreux Jazz Festival, CH

The Green Operations Award
Presented by: GO Group
We Love Green, FR

Best Major Festival
Presented by: See Tickets
Open’er Festival, PL

The Award for Excellence and Passion
Vlad Yaremchuk & Music Saves Ukraine, UA

Promoter of the Year
Presented by: Pollstar
Gadget Entertainment Group, CH

New Kid on the Block 2024
Presented by: DIY Magazine
Filip Košťálek, Colours Of Ostrava, CZ

Lifetime Achievement Award
Juhani Merimaa, FI

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The European Festival Awards has announced that this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Juhani Merimaa, an industry stalwart credited with bringing rock and roll to Finland.

With a career that spans over five decades, Merimaa has been involved in running Finland’s most legendary music venue Tavastia Klubi from the 70s to 2023 when he stepped down from the position of promoter and CEO.

He has also played a central role in Finland’s festival scene, as a co-founder of Ankkarock and former promoter and CEO of Ruisrock.

Merimaa also promoted the first edition of Tuska Open Air at Tavastia and later became a partner and board member of the now Superstruct-managed festival.

While he is now mostly retired from everyday business, he is still active as a mentor for many in the Finnish music industry and previously appeared on one of Finland’s most popular music TV shows “Tähdet tähdet” where he was a jury member for five seasons.

Juhani Merimaa is an industry stalwart credited with bringing rock and roll to Finland

Last year’s Lifetime Achievement award went to former Eurosonic conference chief Ruud Berends.

Merimaa will receive the award at the 15 January 2025 ceremony at de Oosterpoort in Groningen, The Netherlands, on the first day of ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag). The shortlists for 13 of the ceremony’s categories have also been announced and can be seen here.

ESNS recently added a new wave of speakers to the conference programme including ATC Live’s Alex Bruford, Mad Cool’s Cindy Castillo, FKP Scorpio’s Rauha Kyyrö, Øyafestivalen’s Claes Olsen, Spotify’s Annika Walsh and BBC Music Introducing’s Kelly Betts.

The 2025 programme focuses on topics such as the impact of AI on the music industry, the future of streaming, achieving sustainability goals for festivals by 2030, the fairness of dynamic pricing, activism among artists and festivals, the effect of private equity on business, and the devastating impact of rising costs and lack of personnel in the live music industry.

Previously announced speakers include Sumit Bothra (SB3 Artist Management), Alex Hardee (Wasserman Music), Jess Iszatt (BBC) and Katie Melua (artist). Italy was unveiled as the Focus Country for the 2025 showcase.

ESNS takes place between 15–18 January in Groningen, the Netherlands. The full conference programme can be found here and delegate passes can be purchased here.

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