EFA14 LogoThe battle begins to find the best European Festivals of 2013! Vote for your favourite now!

More than 300 European Festivals representing 32 countries have applied to take part in the 2013 edition of the European Festival Awards, which will return with a gala award show opening Eurosonic Noorderslag in style on Wednesday 15th January 2013 at De Oosterpoort in Groningen.

Presented in association with Yourope and Eurosonic Noorderslag the European Festival Awards are the only pan-European body solely dedicated to recognising the contributions and achievements of the event organisers and performing artists that generate billions of Euros for local economies and brighten up the summer for tens of millions of festival-goers each year.

The Voting Process:
This year the winners will be decided by a combination of public votes and the EFA jury – made up of journalists, booking agents, festival organisers – who will have a 25 per cent say in the final outcome of the public voted categories. This is how it works: 

The top 10  as judged by the public get 4 points according to their place like this:

1 = 40 points
2 = 36 points
3 = 32 points
4 = 28 points
5 = 24 points
6 = 20 points
7 = 16 points
8 = 12 points
9 = 8 points
10 = 4 points

The jury votes give 1 point per place like this;

1 = 10 points
2 = 9 points
3 = 8 points
etc etc

So, as an example:
The festival which was 4th most popular in the public vote has 28 points. It judged to be the best by the jury and gets an additional 10 points, bringing its total to 38 points.  Once all the points have been calculated the winner is the one with the most points.

Public voting  will commence on October 1 and close on November 1. Voting takes place at: http://eu.festivalawards.com/vote

Last year’s European Festival Awards featured over 250 festivals from 32 different countries, with over 500,000 votes.

New Health & Safety Innovation Award:
A new award has also been added to this years event – The Health & Safety Innovation Award is presented by the YES Group in cooperation with the ICM&SS.

Many festivals have or are developing innovative ways to deliver both health and safety activities within their crowded spaces. They go to great efforts to deliver new and exciting products and services, which keep the audience ever safer and reduce the risks within the event environment.  These innovations are used on the public to educate and change their behavior and to create a safety culture throughout the event industry. Which innovation was the one felt most worthy?

A panel of independent experts picks out five innovations which are most worthy of the award, these are then scored on which innovation; product or service, has had the most effect in the following one or more categories: making us safer, making us greener-economic benefit-educational benefit.

Nominations for the award are accepted through businesses putting themselves forward, a staff member or a festival-goer can nominate, or the YES group can nominate your festival. To apply, go to eu.festivalawards.com/apply and fill out the Health & Safety Innovation Award application form.

Festival Awards MD, James Drury, said: “It’s been a really exciting year for festivals across Europe and I’m expecting further growth in the number of festivals participating, on the back of last year’s fantastic growth. European promoters have a great healthy sense of competition and it’s going to be exciting to find out which events the fans loved the most.”

Tickets:
Platinum tickets include a delicious 3 course gourmet meal before the show, a seat on a table, complimentary beer, wine and soft drinks and access to the aftershow party. Tickets sold-out before the event for the last 2 years, so book early to avoid disappointment. To order a whole table, please purchase 10 Platinum tickets.

Buy tickets here: eu.festivalawards.com/tickets/


Notes to Editors:

2012 Winners:
BEST MAJOR FESTIVAL in association with Planet Festival:
TOMORROWLAND (Belgium)

BEST MEDIUM-SIZED FESTIVAL:
HEINEKEN BALATON SOUND (Hungary)

BEST SMALL FESTIVAL:
TAURON NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL (Poland)

HEADLINER OF THE YEAR:
FOO FIGHTERS (USA)

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR in association with Eurosonic Noorderslag:
OF MONSTERS AND MEN (Iceland)

BEST EUROPEAN FESTIVAL LINE-UP in association with ID&C:
ROCK AM RING/ ROCK IM PARK (Germany)

BEST INDOOR FESTIVAL: SENSATION (Netherlands)

FESTIVAL ANTHEM OF THE YEAR: Lykke Li – ‘I Follow Rivers’ (Sweden)

BEST NEW FESTIVAL: ELECTRO MAGNETIC (Germany)

THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD in association with IVS and IQ Magazine:
HERMAN SCHUEREMANS (Live Nation Belgium)

PROMOTER OF THE YEAR in association with Audience Magazine:
PUKKELPOP (Belgium)

ARTISTS’ FAVOURITE FESTIVAL:
ROSKILDE (Denmark)

GREEN OPERATIONS AWARD in association with Go Group and Yourope:
WE LOVE GREEN (France)

About Festival Awards Europe:
Established in 2009, in co-operation between Festival Awards Ltd,, Yourope (the European Festival Association) and Eurosonic Noorderslag, Festival Awards Europe is the only event solely dedicated to recognising the contributions and achievements of the event organisers and performing artists that generate billions of Euros for local economies and brighten up the summer for tens of millions of festival-goers each year. Decided by a combination of public vote and industry juries, the awards are presented at a sold out ceremony taking place at Groningen’s De Oosterport in The Netherlands. eu.festivalawards.com

About Yourope:
Founded in November 1998 – Today representing over 80 members from 26 countries. Yourope members are dedicated to improving the European festival scene in terms of: working conditions; health and safety issues; environmental awareness; exchange of knowledge and information; promoting the cross-border exchange of live music talent. The overall aim of the association is to collaborate, share experiences and to pinpoint areas that would benefit from a joint approach. Having gained respect within the industry and at government level, Yourope also has the power to lobby for all legal and industry issues relating to the European festival industry on behalf of its members and together with other associations in the live music business. Yourope also focuses on other key issues for festivals –such exchange of information regarding marketing and sponsoring, contracts, production riders or radio/TV/internet rights and more. http://www.yourope.org

About Eurosonic Noorderslag:
Eurosonic Noorderslag is the key exchange and networking platform for European music, with a proven track record for helping new acts break into the International music scene. Selling out each year Eurosonic Noorderslag attracts over 3,200 delegates, with showcases by more than 300 artists and a conference programme featuring 150 panels, keynote speakers, interviews, workshops, dinners, parties and meetings and the latest developments in the interactive media sector. www.eurosonic-noorderslag.nl

Contact:
For more information, photos or interview requests contact Nikki McNeill at Global Publicity nikki@46.32.240.39

View online press kit here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9xlodskso7pwqtw/oTnS1ZIp1f

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