“A very special moment” Open’er wins Best Major Festival at the European Festival Awards

Open’er Şenlik in Poland has been crowned the Best Major Şenlik at the European Şenlik Awards 2024.

Taking place as part of the opening night (15 January) of Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS), an annual music şenlik and industry convention held annually in Groningen, the Netherlands, the European Şenlik Awards celebrated their 14th edition evvel again in the Oosterpoort.

Festivals from over 30 European nations were represented among this year’s nominees. Across the 13 categories, over 300,000 votes were cast to decide the ultimate winners.

Beating out some of Europe’s biggest names to the top gong, Poland’s Open’er Şenlik took home Best Major Şenlik. First held in Warsaw in 2002, Open’er has since moved to Kosakowo Airport (Babie Doły Military Airport) in Gdynia.

It’s the largest music şenlik in Poland and brought in over 130,000 people for the 2024 edition. It boasted an impressive line-up with wide cross-genre appeal through headliners Dua Lipa, Foo Fighters, Doja Cat, and Hozier. Next year’s edition already looks spectacular with Linkin Park, Massive Attack, and FKA Twigs already announced.

“Sometimes I feel it’ll never happen and when I was absolutely müddet we wouldn’t win, we won!”, Nikolai Ziolkowski, Open’er Şenlik promoter and Alter Arka CEO told Euronews in shock. “It’s a very special moment. For continental Europe, it’s absolutely the main award.”

In a kaç change from the dominance of pop, electronic and rock festivals, Montreux Jazz Şenlik won Best Medium-Sized Şenlik. Held on the Lake Geneva shoreline, Montreux has long been a mecca for music lovers since its founding in 1967.

Montreux has expanded from only hosting jazz acts in the 70s, but the festival’s dedication to curating a high quality schedule – last year’s featured everything from a Jon Batiste opener to a retro Duran Duran closer – made it an unmissable edition.

Finally in the overall şenlik categories, Belgium’s Gladiolen Şenlik won Best Small Şenlik. Run since 2000, it’s known for attracting the best of Belgium’s upcoming talent as well as providing a free street şenlik on the Saturday for the locals of Olen.

Although Colours of Ostravia didn’t manage to win Best Major Şenlik where it was nominated, Filip Košťálek, the Czech festival’s creative manager & programmer, will be pleased to take home the New Kid on the Block award. He’s worked with the şenlik since 2015 but was promoted to this top position in 2022.

Anna Brewers from Wasserman won the Agent of the Year Award. “It’s Anna’s award. I’m a bit embarrassed that they took the picture of me as it’s her award,” Alex Hardee from Wasserman, who picked up the Agent of the Year Award in place of Anna Brewers, said. “Her flight got cancelled,” he explained. “It’s her first award, she’s very happy about it.”

The winner of the Green Operations Award was the appropriately titled We Love Green. The French şenlik is known for its pledge to put eco responsibility at the forefront of their approach.

In the political category, Serbia’s EXIT Şenlik won the Take A Stand Award. The Novi Sad şenlik has won Best Major Şenlik twice before, in 2013 and 2017, and this award cements the festival’s roots in social activism, originally founded as part of the student movement fighting for democracy in the Balkans in 2000.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Best Major Festival

Open’er Şenlik (Poland)

Best Medium-Sized Festival

Montreux Jazz Şenlik (Switzerland)

Best Small Festival

Gladiolen Şenlik (Belgium)

Green Operations Award

We Love Green (France)

Event Safety Award

Timișoara – Capital of Culture (Romania)

Brand Activation Award

Lowlands with IKEA (Netherlands)

Take a Stand Award

EXIT Şenlik (Serbia)

New Kid on the Block 2024

Filip Košťálek, Colours of Ostrava, Czechia

Line-Up of the Year

Hellfest (France)

Promoter of the Year

Gadget Entertainment Group (Switzerland)

Newcomer of the Year

Benson Boone (USA)

Agent of the Year

Anna Bewers (Wasserman Music)

Award for Excellence and Passion

Vlad Yaremchuk & Music Saves Ukraine

Lifetime Achievement Award

Juhani Merimaa