As the dust settles after the magnificent 2023 Eurovision edition which was held in Liverpool last week, speculation is rife regarding next year’s Eurovision host city and venue. Stockholm and Friends Arena seem to be the hot favorites to host the competition next year when Eurovision returns to Sweden for the 7th time.
Next year Sweden will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of ABBA‘s Eurovision victory and there is no place better than Stockholm to host the competition and celebrate ABBA. The Swedish capital has hosted the contest thrice before ( 1975, 2000, 2016) and has great experience in hosting large scale events. According to local media reports it seems that if Stockholm were to host the competition it would host the event at the Friends Arena.
According to SVT the City of Stockholm is keen to host the event next year.
Stockholm has an efficient transport system which connects the whole city, a large hotel capacity,a massive cultural and touristic infrastructure, an international airport with flights flying to most European capitals and major cities.
The Avicii Arena (Globen) will be allegedly going through renovations next year and might not be able to host the event.
Friends Arena has a capacity of circa 65,000 spectators and is located in the north of the city in the Solna district. The stadium opened its doors in 2012 and has been the venue for the Grand Final of Melodifestivalen many times.
The multi purpose venue has a retractable roof and there are many hotels next to it. The Mall of Scandinavia is also a skip, hop and jump away from the stadium. The Friends Arena is the biggest stadium in Scandinavia.
It is early days yet to know which Swedish city will host the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest as SVT and the EBU have to still officially open the 2024 Eurovision Host City Bidding Process, but one thing is for certain that Stockholm has three suitable venues to host the event: Tele 2 Arena, Friends Arena and Aviici Arena.
Other cities which could enter the 2024 Eurovision Host City race are Malmo, Gothemburg, Örnsköldsvik etc.
The Eurovision host city has been unveiled in September/October in recent years. We must note that SVT unveiled the 2013 and 2016 Eurovision host in July.
SOURCE: ESCTODAY
Image Source:https://archello.com/project/friends-arena