A shortlist of nominees has been announced for this year's European Festival Awards, set to honor the continent's best music gatherings large and small, and the artists that perform. Organizers say a record 1.2 million votes were cast for festivals in more than 35 different European nations. A select number of awards are decided by a jury of industry experts.
Major festivals on the shortlist include Tomorrowland in Belgium, Roskilde in Denmark and last year's winner, EXIT in Serbia. The best headliner award will pit many familiar acts including Arcade Fire, Pearl Jam, Jack White, The Black Keys and the reunited Outkast.
Winners will be announced on Jan. 14 during the opening night of Eurosonic Noordeslag at De Oosterport in Groningen, The Netherlands.
The Shortlists:
Best Major European Festival
Colours of Ostrava (Czech Republic)
Electric Picnic (Ireland)
EXIT Festival (Serbia)
Hurricane & Southside (Germany)
NOS Alive (former Optimus Alive) (Portugal)
Rock am Ring/ Rock Im Park (Germany)
Rock Werchter (Belgium)
Roskilde Festival (Denmark)
Sziget Festival (Hungary)
Tomorrowland (Belgium)
Wacken Open Air (Germany)
Woodstock Festival (Poland)
Best Medium-Sized European Festival
Audioriver (Poland)
Berlin Festival (Germany)
Best Kept Secret (The Netherlands)
Electric Castle Festival (Romania)
Hideout Festival (Croatia)
Lovefest (Serbia)
MasterCard Balaton Sound (Hungary)
OFF Festival Katowice (Poland)
Pohoda Festival (Slovakia)
Sea Dance Festival (Montenegro)
Volt Festival (Hungary)
Way Out West (Sweden)
Best Small European Festival
B.my.Lake (Hungary)
Feest in het Park (Belgium)
Festival Tauron Nowa Muzyka (Poland)
Grape Festival (Slovakia)
Happiness Festival (Germany)
Indiependence (Ireland)
Into The Great Wide Open (The Netherlands)
Jazz in the Park (Romania)
PLAI (Romania)
The Garden Festival (Croatia)
Best New European Festival
Bergfestival (Austria)
Down The Rabbit Hole (The Netherlands)
Festival The Brave (The Netherlands)
Imaginarium Festival (France)
MS Artville (Germany)
Sea Dance Festival (Montenegro)
Serbia Wonderland Festival (Serbia)
Signal Festival (Czech republic)
Sunscape Festival (Malta)
Your'in (Belgium)
Best Indoor Festival
Blues in Hell (Norway)
I Love Techno (Belgium)
I Love Techno (France)
Metal Hammer Paradise (Germany)
Reeperbahn Festival (Germany)
Rolling Stone Weekender (Germany)
Sensation (The Netherlands)
Sonar (Spain)
TiMAF (Romania)
Waves (Austria & Slovakia)
Newcomer Of The Year
Birth of Joy
George Ezra
Hozier
Jungle
London Grammar
Mighty Oaks
Milky Chance
Mo
Royal Blood
Stromae
Best Headliner
Arcade Fire
Arctic Monkeys
Imagine Dragons
Jack White
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Outkast
Pearl Jam
QOTSA
Stromae
The Black Keys
Festival Anthem of the Year
Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine
Atomic Bomb! - The Atomic Bomb! Band and Special Guests
Black Keys - Lonely Boy
Calvin Harris - Summer
Ellie Goulding - Burn
George Ezra - Budapest
Outkast - Hey Ya
Pharell Williams- Happy
Royal Blood - Come on Over
Stromae - Papaoutai
The following awards are decided by a jury of industry experts:
Best European Festival Line-Up
Best Kept Secret (The Netherlands)
Glastonbury (United Kingdom)
Open'er Festival (Poland)
Hurricane/Southside (Germany)
Oya Festival (Norway)
Pinkpop (The Netherlands)
Primavera (Spain) Rock am Ring / Rock im Park (Germany)
Rock Werchter (Belgium)
Sziget (Hungary)
Artist’s Favourite European Festival
Glastonbury (United Kingdom)
Hove (Norway)
Oya Festivalen (Norway)
Primavera Sound (Spain)
Pukkelpop (Belgium)
Rock en Seine (France)
Rock Werchter (Belgium)
Slottsfjell (Norway)
Sziget (Hungary)
Way Out West (Sweden)
Promoter Of The Year
FKP Scorpio (Germany)
Friendly Fire (The Netherlands)
Live Nation (Belgium)
Metropolis (United Kingdom)
ID&T (Belgium)
The Green Operations Award (recognises festivals which have made a significant contribution to or achievement towards developing more sustainable events.)
Boom (Portugal)
Cabaret Vert (France)
Cambridge Folk Festival (United Kingdom)
Fusion (Germany)
Ilosaarirock (Finland)
Isle Of Wight (United Kingdom)
Maifeld Derby (Germany)
Melt! (Germany)
Mysteryland (The Netherlands)
Northside (Denmark)
Øya Festival (Norway)
Rock Am Ring (Germany)
Roskilde (Denmark)
Shambala (United Kingdom)
We Love Green (France)
Welcome to the Future (The Netherlands)