The 2022 edition of Eurosonic Noorderslag festival and conference was set to take place in Groningen, Netherlands in January 2022, but this afternoon (2 December) organisers have announced that it'll be moving entirely online following the recent government announcement about COVID-19.

Due to the changing COVID-19 restrictions and uncertainty regarding travel into the Netherlands, Eurosonic Noorderslag will no longer be able to host European acts booked for the event.

2022 will mark the second consecutive year that the festival and conference has gone fully digital.

Managing director Dago Houben said, "ESNS is of great importance to the entire music industry and especially to European musicians. It is therefore essential to carry out our function of providing the best possible platform for European pop music. Earlier this year we saw that the reach of a digital edition can be huge and that we were able to make a difference to an artist's career. We are therefore pleased to give all booked ESNS artists the exposure they deserve with the help of our media partners."

Acts that were booked for the 2022 edition of the festival and conference will have the opportunity to perform at the online event via a free platform put up in collaboration with Dutch radio broadcaster NPO 3FM.

Visit esns.nl for the full statement about Eurosonic Noorderslag 2022.