Germany and eastern Europe have proved themselves as music festival hotspots after scooping a host of prizes at the European Festival Awards.

Five German festivals, including Metal Hammer Paradise, Berlin Festival and Melt!, won awards at the ceremony, which took place in the Netherlands on Wednesday night and recognises the achievements of festival organisers over the past year.

Metal Hammer Paradise, which is located on the Baltic coast, brings top metal bands to a comfortable beachside resort, while Melt! takes place in a small town near Dessau and has featured headliners such as Bloc Party, Bjork and The Streets.

Berlin Festival drew 20,000 fans last year and was headlined by Britpop legends Blur.

The Best Major Festival award went to Serbia's Exit festival, which is held in a fortress overlooking the Danube in the town of Novi Sad. The four-day event (10-13 July 2014) draws around 200,000 partygoers and this year celebrates its 15th anniversary.

B.my.Lake in Hungary, which takes place in the summer party hotspot of Lake Balaton, won the award for the Best New Festival, while Fusion Festival in Romania – an electronic music festival known for its extravagant light and lazer shows – was recognised as the Best Small Festival.

More than 620,000 festival fans from around the world voted in the awards, which was also decided on by a panel of journalists, booking agents and festival organisers.

The winners

Best Major Festival
Exit Festival, Serbia

Best Small Festival
Fusion Festival, Romania

Best Medium-sized Festival
Melt! Festival, Germany

Best New Festival
B.my.Lake, Hungary

Best Indoor Festival
Metal Hammer Paradise, Germany

The Green Operations Award
Way Out West, Sweden

Best European Festival Line-Up
Berlin Festival (DE)

Artists' Favourite European Festival
Lowlands, Netherlands

YES Group H&S Innovation Award
Paleo Festival, Switzerland

Headliner of the Year
Arctic Monkeys

Newcomer of the Year
Imagine Dragons

Festival Anthem of the Year
Daft Punk – Get Lucky