The cities of Forlì and Rimini have become the latest cities to submit a bid to host Eurovision 2022.
Forlì, which is located in Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy, is bidding to host the contest in conjunction with the cities of Cesena and Bertinoro. In a letter sent to RAI by Massimo Medri, president of the Pro Loco of Bertinoro (a local grass roots organisation that promotes the city), he stated:
“Bertinoro would be headed by the business center which would find hospitality in the halls of the bishop’s fortress, ie. in the University Centre. The international value of the centre, its great experience in organizing conferences of a global nature make it a perfect business center, as well as very attractive.”
The proposed venue for this bid would be the Forlì Sports Hall, which has a capacity of 9,000 seats and a height of 18 metres:
“The building still has the requisites required by RAI. In fact, the letter was sent to RAI after having carefully read all the requirements that a city or locality must possess in order to apply. For the press room we propose the Cesena Carisport.”
The capacity is 3,600 seats and can be connected to the Forlì building with two large screens. The delegations could also be housed here. As far as hotel accommodation is concerned, we have the Romagna Riviera, with its 3,445 hotels of each category.”
The bid has also received support from Gabriele Fratto, the mayor of Bertinoro:
“We talked about it with the mayor Gabriele Fratto who told us that he supports us, since he is also the president of the Province, this body also supports us.
As for the money, I am sure that the Region, once the organization has been assigned to Bertinoro, will take care of what it is responsible for.”
The Forlì Sports Hall falls just short of the minimum capacity requirement of 10,000. In addition, there would be 18 km between the stage and the Press Centre, adding a further complication to the bid.
Rimini, which is also located in Emilia-Romagna, also submitted its bid. The mayor of Rimini, Andrea Gnassi, signed the expression of interest:
“The city of Rimini satisfies all the requisites required by RAI. It has an international airport to which two more are added one hour and less than an hour and a half away, a hotel offer of over 1,100 hotels with more than 36,000 rooms and a multifunctional infrastructure suitable for hosting the event “. The Fiera di Rimini has shown that it can organise concerts with at least 10 thousand people and is served by trains and shuttles”.
Rimini has also previously stated that it would like to include San Marino, which is just 22 km away from the city, as part of its bid.
Bidding to Host Eurovision
In order to be considered as a host city, the potential city and venue must meet certain criteria. Any potential host city must have:
- An international airport no more than 90 minutes from the city.
- Over 2,000 hotel rooms in the area close to the event.
- An infrastructure (stadium/venue/centre) capable of hosting a large-scale live broadcast with the minimum requirements listed below.
Any potential venue must:
- Be indoors with air-conditioning and have a well defined perimeter;
- Have an audience capacity in the main hall of around 8,000 – 10,000 during the event (which corresponds to 70% of maximum capacity of that venue for regular concerts, taking into consideration the specific stage and production needs of the Eurovision Song Contest);
- Have a main hall with the capacity to house the set and all other requirements needed to produce a high level broadcast production (this includes good specifications of load capacity in the roof, clearance to low beams, easy load in access, etc);
- Have ample space within easy access of the main hall to support additional production needs, such as: a press centre, delegation spaces, dressing rooms, artist facilities, staff facilities, hospitality, audience facilities, etc;
- Be available exclusively for 6 weeks before the event, 2 weeks during the show (which will take place in May) and a week after the end of the event for dismantling.
Any interested cities must present their bid in a Bid Book and send it to Rai by Monday 12 July at 23:59 CEST. RAI and the EBU will then review all of the Bid Books over the summer and from them, they will choose the host city of Eurovision 2022.
Cities in the Running
The following cities have submitted their bids to host the contest:
The following cities have already seen local politicians express an interest in being a host city:
Image Source: Expedia | Source: Eurofestival News, SMRTV
Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest
Italy debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 and has participated a total of 42 times to date. Italy returned to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 having last participated in the contest in 1997, the country has withdrawn from the contest on a number of occasions in the past. Italy has won the contest three times, the first time being in 1964 and the latest being in 2021. Italy’s hosting of the contest in 1991 has been remembered as one of the most chaotic contests to date. Since their return in 2011 Italy has finished in the top 10 on eight occasions.
