The (; ) was a Dutch song competition between regional public broadcasters. The format of the competition was loosely based on the Eurovision Song Contest and was first used in 1995 under its original title (). Every edition featured thirteen original songs that were performed in a live broadcast, each representing a region of the Netherlands. From the competing entries, a winner was determined through a combination of televoting and votes cast by regional juries.
The format of the competition was first used for the Dutch Song Contest 1995. It was developed by the (ROOS) â the umbrella organisation of Dutch regional public broadcasters â and the Conamus Foundation to celebrate fifty years of regional public broadcasting in the Netherlands. In addition, it served as a substitute for the , which was not held in 1995.
Despite ambitions for it to become an annual event, the competition was not renewed for a second edition in 1996. In May 2023, twenty-eight years after the 1995 edition, the thirteen regional public broadcasters announced the launch of a reworked version of the format under the name Regio Songfestival. The inaugural edition was held on 4 November 2023, with a second and third edition held in 2024 and 2025. The annual competition was cancelled following the 2025 edition, as it failed to generate the desired impact.
Thirteen original songs representing different regions of the Netherlands are performed in a live television show, broadcast simultaneously by all participating broadcasters. A "region" as a participant is represented by its regional public broadcaster â one from each of the twelve provinces, with the exception of South Holland, which is represented by two broadcasters: one serving the province's northern subregions (The Hague and surroundings; presented as "West"), and one serving the southern subregions (Rotterdam and surroundings; presented as "Rijnmond").
Each participating broadcaster has sole discretion over the process it may employ to select its entry for the contest. Entrants may not have had a Top 40 hit prior to participating, and must perform in a regional language or dialect, or in Dutch. Regional contests that have served as a broadcaster's selection process include (Omrop Fryslân) and the (RTV Drenthe).
The programme is staged by one of the regions and is broadcast from an auditorium in the selected host city. The winner is determined by a combination of votes cast by regional juries (67%) and a public televote (33%). In addition, an AI jury member, named Robin, was introduced in 2025, who evaluates entries based on the quality of their lyrics. Entries cannot receive points from their own regional jury. The participating broadcaster of the winning entry is given the honour of organising the following year's event.
The first edition of the Regio Songfestival was held on 4 November 2023, beginning at 20:30 CET, and lasted approximately two hours. It was organised by the Netherlands' thirteen regional public broadcasters, with the (financial) support of Buma Cultuur, AVROTROS and the . The show was broadcast on television by all participating broadcasters, as well as AVROTROS on the national television channel NPO 1 Extra.
RTV Utrecht, the regional public broadcaster of Utrecht, was asked to host the first edition of the Regio Songfestival due to the province's central location within the Netherlands. It was subsequently announced that the event would be staged at the , a theatre in the city of Utrecht. The venue has a capacity of 1,000 spectators.
On 2 October 2023, it was revealed that the show would be hosted by Greek-Dutch singer Stefania Liberakakis, alongside RTV Utrecht reporters and Bernadette Keizer. RTV Utrecht announced that Liberakakis and Ozinga would be the show's main presenters, while Keizer would serve as the green room host.
The running order for the live show was published on 27 October 2023. The ABBA tribute band We Want ABBA!, featuring singers Mandy Huydts and , performed as an interval act.
The 10, 11 and 12-point scores from the juries were announced by a spokesperson from each region in the following order:
The second edition of Regio Songfestival was held on 9 November 2024, beginning at 20:30 CET, and lasted approximately two hours. It was organised by L1, the regional public broadcaster of Limburg, following its victory in the 2023 edition. The show was broadcast on television by all participating broadcasters, as well as AVROTROS on the national television channel NPO 1 Extra.
The event was staged at the in Maastricht. The venue has a capacity of 915 spectators. On 4 July 2024, it was revealed that the show would be hosted by presenter and singer , alongside L1 reporters Yaël Camille Weijenberg and Riël Linssen. Linssen was later replaced by Bas van Mulken, who served as the green room host.
The running order for the live show was published on 11 October 2024. Singer performed the song "" as an interval act.
The 10, 11 and 12-point scores from the juries were announced by a spokesperson from each region in the following order:
The third edition of Regio Songfestival was held on 1 November 2025 at 20:30 CET, and lasted approximately two hours. It was organised by Omroep Gelderland after their win in the previous year's edition. The show was broadcast on television by all participating broadcasters, as well as AVROTROS on the national television channel NPO 1 Extra.
On 26 April 2025, it was announced that the contest would be staged at the in Arnhem. On 3 June 2025, Omroep Gelderland unveiled that Jochem van Gelder, Linda Geerdink and Rik Bronkhorst would host the event, all three being TV and radio presenters at the broadcaster.
The running order for the live show was published on 8 October 2025. Sieneke performed her 2010 Eurovision entry "" as an interval act.
The 10, 11 and 12-point scores from the juries were announced by a spokesperson from each region in the following order: