ESNS 2026 transformed Groningen into a borderless map of Europe’s future sound, featuring 300+ emerging artists and a historic opening by the Queen of the Netherlands.

With 300+ emerging artists from nearly 40 countries, ESNS once again proved why it’s Europe’s most important showcase festival and not just a place to watch gigs, but a place to feel where music is heading next.

As a huge electronic music fan, ESNS felt very reminiscent of ADE, shows were spread across the city every night, with pop-up performances in unexpected places, intimate venues just around the corner, and crowds constantly moving, discovering, and sharing moments.

One minute you’d stumble into a DJ set in a club, the next you’d be surrounded by energetic rap performance. From quite and cozy indie folk shows in churches to all the way to absolutely unhinged, high-energy punk shows, ESNS genuinely had something for everyone. And that’s what made it special: it wasn’t genre-locked or scene-exclusive. It was open, curious, and borderless.

Among the countless memories from this year’s festival here are some of our favorites:

The Queen of the Netherlands officially opened ESNS 2026, a moment that underlined the festival’s cultural significance well beyond the music industry. According to an ESNS representative, this marked the first time the Queen has attended the opening of a music festival or conference. Her presence continued beyond the ceremony, as she was later seen attending Dove Ellis’ live performance at a packed Binnenzaal.

Even for dedicated dance music fans, Dove Ellis’  live performance was a standout moment. The performance felt immersive and almost surreal, driven by thought-provoking, carefully written lyrics layered over rich and atmospheric instrumentation. Despite being a relatively new name on the scene, Dove Ellis has quickly become one of the festival’s most talked-about artists and this performance made it clear why.

One of the week’s key highlights was the Music Moves Europe Awards 2026, held during a celebratory ceremony on Thursday, 15 January 2026, in Groningen. A total of seven awards were presented: five MME Awards, one Grand Jury Prize, and one Public Choice Award.

The MME Award winners were Camille Yembe (Belgium), Carpetman (Ukraine), Della (Cyprus), Sarah Julia (Netherlands), and Sofie Royer (Austria). The Grand Jury Prize was awarded to Lia Kali (Spain), who also claimed the Public Choice Award, voted for by music fans across Europe and beyond. All 15 nominated artists performed at ESNS and took part in the MME Education Programme, designed to equip emerging artists with industry insight and long-term career tools.

Swedish DJ and producer Naarly, also co-creator of Engeloop Records, delivered one of the festival’s sickest DJ performance. Known widely for his house hit “Addicted,” Naarly’s set was both eclectic and high-energy, balancing groove with emotional depth. He also tested some unreleased music such as remix of the song ‘Reverie” , If you are into afro house music and happened to be in Groningen, this was the place to be!

Elsewhere, festivalgoers may have noticed flyers inviting attendees to leave a voice note and have a song created from it, an outside-the-box concept devised by the artist Might Delete Later. What blew me away was that her voice genuinely sounds like a sampled vocal but it’s completely live. I’ve honestly never heard anything like it before. Bold, inventive, and forward-thinking, her set made the long queue outside Huize Maas more than worth the wait.

The night continued with homegrown DJ Emmz, who delivered a groovy, multi-genre set at the MEET@AIR DJ Stage. The venue was intimate, the crowd locked in, and genre boundaries were intentionally blurred. Difficult to categorise as it had a flavor of disco, progressive house, electro all together while she sang live over the instrumental.

While waiting for Emmz’s DJ set, I ended up catching Dutch rapper Louis Pedro at the main stage. Didn’t understand a single word but loved the vibes. I could see people in their teens and early twenties jumping to his bars while there was people in the later part of their life who seemed to enjoy the music equally. This is something rare, especially in rap industry so credit to the artists. And that’s what ESNS represents: music without borders. It isn’t always linguistic, sometimes it’s purely emotional.

Beyond the music, ESNS 2026 leaned heavily into conversations about local ecosystems, sustainability, and long-term artist development. Panels and talks focused on how scenes grow, how artists survive, and how Europe can stay culturally connected through music and not algorithms. This wasn’t just industry talk for the sake of it. It felt urgent, necessary, and refreshingly honest.

ESNS 2026 wasn’t just a festival, it was a living map of Europe’s future sound. It was chaotic in the best way. Intimate yet global. Loud, quiet, polished, rough – sometimes all in the same night.