EBU music broadcasters are once again front and centre at the annual Eurosonic Festival, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. With so many emerging rock, pop and indie bands to discover, we've outlined some of the acts, events and venues to watch out for.

The EBBAs

Eurosonic officially kicks off on Wednesday 13 January with the European Boarder Breaker Awards (EBBAs). The EBBAs are awarded to emerging European pop acts who enjoy success outside their own borders, with EBU member broadcasters involved in the nomination and selection process. Once again the ceremony will be hosted by legendary BBC host Jools Holland. If you are interested in this content offer for TV, radio and/or online, contact  EBU Manager of Eurosonic Laurent Marceau.

The conference

There will be a number of lively music discussions, workshops and live recordings during the day. For this year's Eurosonic keynote, Rhys Hughes, BBC Head of Programmes for Radio 1 and 1Xtra will give a talk entitled, "Radio and Streaming Platforms: Too many elephants in the music room?”. This lively debate on how radio broadcasters are taking on the challenge of today's digital landscape, and finding new opportunities to spread their brands will take place Friday 15 January 2016 (12.00- 13.00, Oosterpoort).

Festivalgoers will also witness a live recording of RAI's Radio Battle, the European Radio DJ Championship, taking place on Thursday 14 January (19:45-20:45, NPO 3FM Studio in De Winkel). Read more about this interesting format in our Proud to Present showcase.

This year's festival has a special focus on "Central-Eastern Europe". music fans can discover the best talent from this large, diverse geographical area at the "Let's work together" workshop on Friday 15 January (16:30-17:30, Oosterpoort).

Finally an iinnovative multimedia project that will raise money for charity - The Glass House installation - will be presented by Dutch Member NPO and EBU Head of Young Audiences Thomas Grond on Friday 15 January 2016 (15:00-16:00, Oosterpoort). More information on these and other EBU conference events can be found in this download.

Special mention: David Bowie exhibit

The Groninger Museum is staying open extra late during the festival so that music lovers can visit their "David Bowie is" exhibition to honour the recent passing of this music legend. Curated by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the exhibit includes more than 300 items from the artists personal archives. Cost is EUR23 per adult. Don't forget the sign the book of condolences in the museum's lobby.

The bands

Chosen by the best music curators across Europe, keep an eye out for acts being presented and supported by participating EBU broadcasters (NPO, ARD, BBC, Radio France and more) -  look for the Euroradio logo on stage. You'll find all 31 acts (supported by 27 EBU broadcasters) at the following venues: Grand Theatre (main), Vera, Hulze Maas (main and front), Stadsschouwburg, Praedinius Gymnasium, NPO 3FM tent Damsterplein, Eurosonic Air and Vrijdag.

More information about the festival programme, tickets and venues can be found on Eurosonic-Nooderslag.nl.

If you want to take a listen to all the acts before the festival, give our popular Eurosonic 2016 Compilation a whirl on SoundCloud: