This is the 10441st most frequent Polish word.
czołowym
"Foremost" or "leading."
In this context, 'czołowych' is an adjective agreeing in case, number, and gender with 'artystów', describing their prominent status among artists celebrated at the festival.
Miasto promuje czołowych artystów lokalnych na festiwalu.
The city promotes leading local artists at the festival.
In this sentence, 'czołowym' is used as an adjective agreeing in case, number, and gender with 'zawodnikiem' to denote his prominent role in the team.
Janek jest czołowym zawodnikiem naszej drużyny.
Janek is a leading player on our team.
Here, 'czołowe' is an adjective agreeing in case, number, and gender with 'miejsce' indicating a high rank earned in the contest.