The inaugural edition took place on 28 April 2002 as a spin-off of the West Frisian-language song contest Liet [fy; nl] (transl.

The contest was cancelled in 2007 and 2013 when the hosting organisations, in Narbonne and Corsica respectively, backed out at a late stage, and in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both the jury and public awards were won by the Catalan band Pomada [ca] with the song "En pere gallerí".

The sixth edition of the contest was held on 31 October 2009, returning to the De Harmonie theatre in Leeuwarden, Netherlands.

The ninth edition of Liet International was held on 1 December 2012 at the Teatru de la Llaboral in Gijón, Asturias, Spain.

The tenth Liet International song contest was held on 12 December 2014 in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany.

Italian singer Martina Iori won the jury award with the song "Via con mia mùsega", sung in Ladin.

The eleventh Liet International song contest was scheduled to be held in late 2016 in Kautokeino, Norway, the home of the Sámi Grand Prix.

[7] However, due to a lack of funds, the contest was postponed to 13 April 2017 and was held as part of the Sámi Easter Festival.

The twelfth Liet International song contest was held on 23 May 2018 at the Neushoorn in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, as part of the European Capital of Culture activities.

It was decided that a non-competitive, online replacement show, entitled Liet International 2020+1, would be held on 8 October 2021 to celebrate the acts due to compete in the 2020 contest.

The fourteenth Liet International contest was held on 22 November 2024 at the Centru Culturale Alb’oru in Bastia, France.

[19] The Sardinian song "Ita abarrat" by Su Maistu was included in the participant list, before being changed to "No dda infiu" by Luca Marcia.

[19][20] Additionally, the South Tyrolean German entry "Spaziern" by Robin's Haut was not present in the show, despite being announced as a participant.

Languages representing Belgium, Estonia, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, and Romania have each only appeared once.