On the road with three standout ESNS artists
Sept. 11, 2025
By journalist Rhian Daly (NME)
Every year, Groningen’s ESNS offers emerging European artists a chance to break through, and thanks to European Talent Exchange (Exchange for short), that exposure often turns into high-profile festival bookings across the continent and beyond.
For the upcoming issue of Radar Magazine, we followed Luvcat, Judeline and jasmine.4.t, three standout performers who captured the spotlight at ESNS25, to see how their showcases sparked something bigger.
Luvcat
Luvcat – aka Liverpudlian singer-songwriter Sophie Morgan, is a captivating presence whatever stage you put her on. The ornate surroundings of Groningen’s Stadsschouwburg, though, felt like a fitting environment for the British artist’s songs of macabre drama and seedy romance to come to life at ESNS25, adding a theatrical flourish to the noirish world Luvcat has created.
It’s no wonder, then, that she is the artist from ESNS25 to land the most festival bookings as part of the European Talent Exchange programme this year. Luvcat’s total sits at 11, taking her to new music festivals like Reeperbahn Festival (Germany) and to big names on the continental scene, including Way Out West (Sweden), Sziget (Hungary) and Lowlands (The Netherlands). Her success in the programme is proof that creating your own universe and capturing an audience’s imagination are key.
Judeline
Madrid indie-pop star Judeline already reaped the benefits of performing at ESNS this year when she received the Public Choice Award at the Music Moves Europe Awards at the festival. The prize, which aims to highlight acts that represent the future of European music, was voted on by fans online, with the musician rewarded with €10,000.
The momentum following ESNS continued since, with five European festivals seeing what the public did in Judeline and snapping her up for their events. Being part of ESNS25 has already taken her to prestigious Californian festival Coachella, where she gave her debut US performance and gained tons of attention in the press and on social media. That momentum continued at Down The Rabbit Hole (The Netherlands), Dour Festival (Belgium), Gurtenfestival (Switzerland) and Paléo Festival Nyon (Switzerland) – keeping the rising star firmly at the front of music fans’ minds.
jasmine.4.t
jasmine.4.t, the indie artist from Manchester signed to Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records, put in the work during her time at ESNS25. The musician, whose debut album You Are The Morning dropped during this year’s edition of the festival, played twice during the event, with a show at De Oosterpoort and celebrating the record’s release at Platosonic.
That shift has resulted in jasmine.4.t securing seven bookings at festivals across Northern Europe, opening up new opportunities and new markets for a bright new act as she continues to tour her debut album. Her ESNS-backed bookings include big names like Øyafestivalen (Norway), Iceland Airwaves (Iceland), Roskilde (Denmark) and more.
When you perform at Groningen’s ESNS, you’re automatically enrolled in the European Talent Exchange programme – plugging you into a network of global festivals and media partners booking acts at events in Europe and beyond. For many artists, it’s the springboard to a packed tour calendar. Here are three of ESNS25’s biggest success stories.
We're publishing a hand-picked selection of previews online in the lead-up to our upcoming issue – stay tuned for more.