Madra Salach, Florence Road, and Dove Ellis among most booked acts in Europe according to European Talent Exchange

The European Talent Exchange results for 2026 have been released, with Dublin alternative folk band Madra Salach revealed as the continent's most booked artist last year, with 17 bookings in total.

Also performing strongly were Wicklow rock four-piece Florence Road, who ranked third with 12 bookings; and Galway native Dove Ellis, who follows closely in fourth with 11 bookings.

Other artists from across Europe who made the top ten include English outfits Gans (14 bookings) and Keo (10), Swedish artist Joshua Idehen (15), Belgium's Dressed Like Boys (10) and Camille Yembe (6) , French artist Max Baby (7), and Nusantara Beat from the Netherlands (7).

It marks another incredibly strong year for Irish artists, with the likes of Curtisy, Sexy Tadhg, Basht., Bucket, and Mount Palomar also receiving bookings off the back of last year's ESNS. Ireland will take centre stage at the 2027 edition of the ESNS as the festival's focus country.

In close cooperation with First Music Contact and RTÉ 2FM, ESNS will be curating a programme that celebrates Irish music success from 13 to 16 January in Groningen, acknowledging Ireland’s investment in their artists and forward-thinking infrastructure as best practice.

"Through significant investment of resources from Culture Ireland and the Arts Council we have been able to invest in education, professionalisation and support for Irish artists and their teams, with follow up tour funding from Culture Ireland to help our artists benefit from the opportunities offered through ETE, Ireland has taken it’s place as a producer of world class artists," said Angela Dorgan, First Music Contact CEO.

"Over the past years we have all seen the Irish scene growing exponentially, and right now it's fully blossoming," added ESNS Head of Music Oskar Strajn. "We want to embrace this moment and celebrate all the amazing artists that have emerged from Ireland as well as focus on future talents. Looking at the past edition of ESNS alone, Irish acts are the ones that benefited from playing in Groningen the most; with Florence Road, Madra Salach and Dove Ellis being the top three most booked acts across Europe since the festival."

Irish artists announced so far for the 2027 edition are Bleech 9:3, Aaron Rowe, and Mischa and the Bear. Joining them is an long, eclectic and continent-spanning list, including a number of UK acts like Cerys Hafana , Curiosity Shop, Eaves Wilder, Gwenifer Raymond , Little Grandad and Pigeon.

ESNS was established as 2003 to overcome the significant challenges faced by the European pop music industry in international promotion and distribution. The project has facilitated, supported and promoted the global circulation of creative European musical talent.

Each year the group hosts a non-profit showcase festival for European artists, and a conference with panels, keynotes, interviews, and gatherings on the latest developments in the international and European music industry.

A number of leading Irish acts have played at the showcase before going on to achieve substantial success, including Hozier, CMAT, Fontaines D.C., Villagers, Dermot Kennedy, The Scratch, Inhaler, Lankum, Sprints and Lisa O'Neill.

ESNS 2027 will take place in Groningen from 13-16 January. For more information, including tickets, click this link.