Six Catalan artists revealed for ESNS 2025 line-up in Groningen

The announcement marks a record number of Catalan showcases at the Dutch festival and reflects the strength, talent and diversity of the emerging Catalan music scene.

Coming from the world of jazz, Rita Payés fuses her sound with Bossa Nova and Catalan roots, creating music that's fresh and nostalgic. After Imagina (2019) and Com la pell (2021), this year she has released new album De Camino al Camino, which explores the beauty of the everyday through thirteen songs.

Rita Payés performs at Lutherse Kerk on Thursday, 16 January at 10.20 pm

Composer, guitarist and singer Mar Pujol hails from Lluçanès in central Catalonia and released her debut Cançons de Rebost earlier this year via quality indie label Hidden Track Records. Pujol’s alluring vocal - whispered, earthy and full of emotion - comes together on her music with minimal but space-filling instrumentation to create songs that speak both of everyday life and more transcendental events with poetic insight.

Mar Pujol performs at USVA on Friday, 17 January at 8.10 pm

With three albums released since 2021, Julieta has become one of the most important artists on the Catalan pop scene. She experiments with contemporary urban music, afrobeat and indie, and is inspired by the nature and fantasy that surrounds her while her sharp lyrics speak about the moral conflict of freedom and female power.

Julieta performs at Forum Rabo Studio on Friday, 17 January at 11.30 pm

One of the most promising groups on the national scene, Barcelona quartet HEAL swing between alt-folk, slowcore and indie rock of the ‘90s and are signed to Primavera Labels. Their debut The Shiver was released earlier this year and is a work that unfolds through a raw narrative and a dense and stealthy landscape.

HEAL performs at Werkman College on Thursday, 16 January at 12.50 am

Coming together in 2016, Tarta Relena sees two singer – Helena Ros and Marta Torrella – exploring, a cappella, a repertoire that goes from traditional music to original songs that are related to the geographical area of the Mediterranean. In their arrangements, two very different timbres live together with synthetic sounds and electronic samples and at Eurosonic they will present songs from this year's record És pregunta.

Tarta Relena performs at Museum aan de A on Friday, 17 January at 10.10 pm

Adelaida seeks to explore the limits and possibilities of the voice as a ritualistic and expressive tool. Across two records – her debut Cántaro and this year’s Muérdago, which was premiered at Sónar – the classically educated artist explores the limits and possibilities of the voice as a ritualistic and expressive tool.

Adelaida performs at Simplon UP on Friday, 17 January at 8.50 pm

The participation of the groups, and the professionals accompanying them, in Eurosonic is part of the Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies’ (ICEC) policy to promote the internationalisation of Catalan music and music companies through its Catalan Arts brand.