It’s official, Rotterdam will host the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in the Netherlands.
The port city of Rotterdam will be the hosts for the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, with Europe saying Ahoy to the next host city. The city of over 1 million people will be the fourth in the Netherlands to have hosted the Eurovision Song Contest since the contest was first held in 1956.
The contest will take place on 12th, 14th and 16th May.
The 2020 contest is to be held at the Rotterdam Ahoy, which was opened in 1971, and has undergone multiple refurbishments. The venue can hold up to 17,000 people and has previous experience of hosting Eurovision events.
In 2007 Rotterdam was the host city for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, bringing the contest to the Netherlands for the first time. A total of seventeen nations took part in the 2007 contest, with the venue being one of the largest to have hosted Junior Eurovision.
How the Bidding Process Worked
At the start of June the cities or regions that express interest received a document from the broadcasters which outlined the full criteria that needs to be met should they be selected. This forms the foundation for each interested bid.
Those cities or regions still in the running have four weeks to create their “bid books” which will then need to be submitted at the start of July.
During July, the organisers will then have the option of visiting those cities and regions in the running. Following the assessments, the host city for the 2020 contest was then chosen with consultation from the EBU.
The following cities participated in the bidding process but were not shortlisted:
- Arnhem
- Den Bosch
- Utrecht
