Four Swiss cities are expected to bid for the right to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 – Basel, Bern, Geneva and Zurich.
Swiss broadcaster SRF is reporting that these four cities will make a proposal to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) before the deadline, which is this Friday.
Hosting Eurovision is a major coup for any city in Europe. Staging the contest means significant media attention, tourism from all over the continent, and the chance to promote the city to over 160 million television viewers.
As a result, the biggest cities in Switzerland all want a piece of the action. And, as Switzerland hasn’t had Eurovision on home soil since 1989, there is clearly appetite in the country for staging the contest.
Basel
The first city expected to bid is Basel, which is in the western part of the country. The Canton of Basel-Stadt, which governs the city, has already put out a statement confirming they will make a bid.
The Canton has already proposed two potential venues for Eurovision in Basel. The first is the St-Jakobshalle indoor arena, which has a capacity of 12,000. However, the city is also reportedly considering holding Eurovision in St. Jakob-Park, a 40,000 capacity football stadium. As the stadium doesn’t have a roof, plans are being drawn up for a “temporary ceiling reinforcement” in the event the stadium gets the gig.
Bern (and Biel/Bienne)
Bern, the Swiss capital, is also now expected to make a bid for Eurovision. Although some reports speculated Bern may not go in for the contest, SRF are reporting they are likely to join forces with Biel/Bienne for their bid. Biel/Bienne is the hometown of Nemo, who won Eurovision 2024 for Switzerland with their song “The Code”.
It was expected that if Bern and Biel/Bienne were to host Eurovision that the contest would be held in the Bern Festhalle, while the Tissot Arena in Biel/Bienne would also be utilised during the contest for other events associated with the competition. However, SRF reports that a new 9,000-capacity arena could be constructed on the Bernexpo site for the contest.
Geneva
The third bidding city is reported to be Geneva. Geneva is a significant city in the Eurovision world, as its where the European Broadcasting Union, the contest organisers, have their headquarters. Geneva’s government has made it clear that they want to bring Eurovision to the city, and they’ve already set up a taskforce to organise their bid.
Not only that, Geneva has an international airport and is close to the French border. That means tourists could potentially find cheaper accomodation in France while being able to visit Geneva by public transport, aiding tourism. If successful, Geneva would host the contest at the Palexpo, an indoor hall with a 15,000 capacity.
Zurich
Finally, Zurich is expected to be the fourth city to bid for Eurovision 2025. Zurich was reported to be waiting on further clarifications from the EBU before making a decision to bid, but it now seems they’ve elected to go ahead. Zurich has the advantage of an international airport, as well as good public transport connections around Europe.
Not only that, Zurich has two potential venues they could choose. The city could either put forward the 15,000-seat Hallenstadion, or the new Swiss Life Arena which opened in 2022 with space for 12,000 fans. Additionally, Zurich is known as Switzerland’s main LGBTQ+ hotspot, which may help its bid.
Overall, then, the competition to host Eurovision 2025 is expected to be fierce. With all four cities being able to provide the infrastructure required to stage the contest, it’s currently impossible to predict which city Eurovision fans will visit next year.
Eurovision 2025
The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 is set to be held in Switzerland following the victory of Nemo with “The Code”. Switzerland won the Eurovision Song Contest for a third time, having won the 1956 and 1988 editions of the competition.
It’s expected that Basel, Bern, Geneva and Zurich will be the four cities that put forward a bid to host the contest. The final decision on the host city for Eurovision 2025 is expected to be announced in August.
Image Source: Corinne Cumming / EBU | Source: EUROVOIX