Ão wins UPBEAT Best New Talent Award 2026
The public has chosen Belgian quartet Ão as the winner of UPBEAT’s Best New Talent Award 2026. Their mix of electronica, art pop, saudade, and Latin influences impressed fans and stood out from 10 shortlisted artists across Europe. As winners, Ão will perform at Mercat de Música Viva de Vic, receive a professional concert video, […]
Best New Talent Award 2026 is on – Check the nominees and vote!
We are thrilled to announce the 10 exceptional artists from Belgium, Denmark, Spain, The Netherlands, France, Serbia and Cyprus. UPBEAT Best New Talent 2026 artists will have the access to mentoring activities to develop their skills and competencies to help propel their international careers! The winner will get the chance to perform at Mercat de […]
Artist Mentoring Programme is launched!
We are proud to announce the launch of the brand-new Artist Mentoring Programme, a collaboration between UPBEAT and the European Music Managers Alliance – EMMA! In the Programme we pair up music industry experts having solid mentoring experiences with emerging artists from the world music field. The pairs will work together for up to 10 […]
See you at WOMEX!
It’s the end of October which means WOMEX-time in UPBEAT’s calendar as well! We are returning to the greatest global hub of world music with two exciting events! UPBEAT Night at the offWOMEX Stage (Olympia) As is almost tradition now the UPBEAT Platform is bringing three new upcoming artists from around Europe to the offWOMEX […]
End of an era – first edition of UPBEAT finishing – but this is not a goodbye!
UPBEAT, a groundbreaking European platform for showcase festivals headed by Budapest-based Hangvető, closes a chapter and is ready for the next. Its core mission was to uplift new talent, balance a homogenizing industry and vouch for cultural diversity – but did it succeed? We take account of the project’s first 3 years and see what’s […]
In case you’ve missed, here is the record of the UPBEAT Impact Talk!
What did we do in the three years of the UPBEAT project? How did the emerging artists and member festivals evaluate their progress? What worked and where can we improve? These are the questions Patryk Galuszka was looking for while conducting the UPBEAT Impact Assessment study and these are the answers that we were looking […]
The UPBEAT Impact Assessment Study is now available!
At the end of the 3rd year of UPBEAT, it was time to see what kind of impact we’ve really made. Collaborating with independent researcher Patryk Galuszka we conducted an in-depth assessement to evaluate the project’s progress and impact on the Member festivals and supported artists. The aim of the study was to provide an […]
Award Ceremony in Ostrava
UPBEAT visited one of its member festival, Czech Music Crossroads in the charming Czech town of Ostrava; the home of a bustling street fiesta, great gigs, friendly delegates, and a heartwarming award ceremony.
Meskovic-Lazar duo snap up Best New Talent Award
The fiery pair of Almir Meskovic and Daniel Lazar triumphed in UPBEAT’s public vote for Best New Talent: the platform’s annual accolade of rising stars in the world scene. Marrying classical training, Balkan heritage, Nordic influences and lots of imagination, the accordion-violin duo keep on conquering new territory, bagging the UPBEAT trophy for 2025. Now […]
Dance your way to a greener future at Tromsø World
The Future Festival award was handed over to Nora Kiil representing Tromsø World against the festive backdrop of Budapest Ritmo. The festival was selected for being ‘a sustainable arena for multicultural art and cultural communication, emphasizing the social value and the benefits of a vibrant and visible cultural diversity with artists from Africa, Latin America, […]