Sweden’s second largest city, Gothenburg, has started to prepare a bid to host Eurovision 2024, next year in Sweden.
The city of Gothenburg, which previously hosted Eurovision in 1985, has expressed interest in hosting the 68th edition of the contest. This comes as a response to Stockholm, which already submitted an expression of interest in hosting the contest.
Göteborgs Posten reports that the city has created a team of people from Got Event, Svenska Mässan and Göteborg & Co, that are preparing a bid to host the contest. The team says that they will not submit something until the very last minute, to make sure that the bid is as good as possible. SVT has previously set a deadline for bids to host the contest, until June 12.
When asked if Gothenburg is ready to host the contest next year, Magnus Hallberg, vice president of Göteborg & Co and part of the team, says:
“The short answer is yes, we are more than ready”
Magnus Hallberg tells Göteborgs Posten that Gothenburg has the capacity of hosting such an event:
“We have looked at everything from arena capacity and solutions for sustainability, to creating an attractive party place for the audience, what the EBU usually calls Eurovillage. There are many pieces that have to fall into place, but we can handle that in Gothenburg.
Even the most technical and crucial area, Scandinavium’s old roof that has problem with holding up modern light rigging, there seems to be a solution to.”
What is left to sort out is the question regarding the economy. Jonas Attenius, chairman of the municipal board says:
“I think Eurovision is really fun and I understand that it would mean a lot for the city to host the contest, but the city of Gothenburg will not pay 100 or even 200 million kronor (≈ 8,5 – 17 million euros). It is totally out of the question when we fight to save our nurses and keep teachers in our schools.”
However, the situation could change if Göteborg & Co finds private investors or sponsors who are ready to step in with the money. Which may very well be possible, considering the chance to market themselves to an audience of millions.
Jonas Attenius continues and says:
“If SVT chooses Gothenburg and the costs can be distributed in a sensible way, then this will in the end still be a matter for the municipal council to decide on.”
In the upcoming days we will see if Gothenburg has a bid to submit. If they do, they will join the race against other cities to host next year’s contest. You can follow all the developments regarding Eurovision 2024 here.
Eurovision 2024
Loreen won the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden with “Tattoo”. She is the first female two-time winner of the competition, having previously won the 2012 contest with “Euphoria”.
This is Sweden’s seventh Eurovision win, following victories in 1974, 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012 and 2015. This makes Sweden the joint most successful country in Eurovision alongside Ireland. Loreen has also become the first woman and the second person overall to win Eurovision twice.
Image Source: Vogue | Source: Göteborgs Posten
