"Europe, shall we dance?": Vienna reaches for ESC 2026

Now the battle of the potential ESC metropolises is officially open: Vienna announced on Thursday that it has now submitted its application to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. A real bullseye, as interested parties must send their detailed documents to ORF by July 4 at the latest. Meanwhile, Innsbruck is still working on the final elaboration of its application.

Vienna enters the race with a claim

And even though the official ESC motto has been "United by Music" for several years, the federal capital is entering the race with its own claim: "Europe, shall we dance?". "As a cultural metropolis that is clearly committed to climate neutrality, we want to make the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 a forward-looking event that both excites and takes responsibility," promoted Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) in a letter to ORF Director General Roland Weißmann for his city. As arguments in favor of Vienna, the application cites the extensive experience with major events, the approximately 82,000 beds in 41,000 rooms of the 433 hotels, and not least the city's transport connections. After all, Vienna is accessible by direct flight from 195 destinations in 65 countries and is the best-connected rail city in Europe. Additional infrastructure does not need to be created in Vienna for the musical mega-event.

Furthermore, Vienna wants to score with soft power. Thus, "openness to the world" plays a central role in the application. "With our application today, we are making a clear commitment: We want to bring the Song Contest to Vienna," Mayor Ludwig made clear: "We have often proven in the past that Vienna is an open-minded city that welcomes event visitors with open arms and offers them a wonderful stay."

Looking back at the last ESC in Vienna

And last but not least, the successful hosting of the ESC 2015 after Conchita's triumph is its own seal of quality. "After the Song Contest 2015, there was a survey among all reporters who were on site, in which Vienna achieved top marks. 79 percent of the experienced ESC reporters rated it as 'better' or 'much better' than the Song Contests they had experienced before," they referred to the past success.

This opens the duel between Vienna and the Tyrolean capital Innsbruck, which has also announced its intention to host the annual ESC entourage with tens of thousands of fans, reporters, and entourage. In the Tyrolean capital, they were still in the final stages of preparing the application on Thursday. "We are currently working intensively on fine-tuning an attractive application, which will be submitted on time by Friday, July 4, at 12:00 noon," Mayor Johannes Anzengruber (JA - Now Innsbruck) informed the APA. They are in "final talks" and in the "final drafting" of the application. For Innsbruck and Tyrol, the ESC is a "unique opportunity": "The ESC creates jobs, boosts tourism, and is invaluable advertising for Innsbruck and Tyrol."

Recently, the "Tiroler Tageszeitung" mentioned a cost estimate of 19.47 million euros or around 17 million euros affecting the budget, with which Innsbruck is vying for the event. However, they did not want to confirm this to the APA. They are currently not naming any figures. While especially city chief Anzengruber was enthusiastic about the ESC (the city senate also gave the green light by majority, note), much more sober tones were heard from the provincial government, even though Economic Councillor Mario Gerber (ÖVP) recently beat the ESC drum a bit more. Governor and Finance Officer Anton Mattle (ÖVP) made it clear, for example, that apart from providing the infrastructure, "no financial resources will be made available by the state." Anzengruber, in turn, hinted that he wanted to involve the tourism industry accordingly regarding the costs. If the Song Contest comes to Innsbruck, the local Olympiaworld would be the venue.

Graz recently withdrew from the race due to the expected costs, and the Upper Austrian double application from Linz/Wels, which started with verve, also came to nothing due to the necessary technical adaptations. And the Burgenland metropolis Oberwart, despite initially pushing its interest with aplomb, ultimately did not submit an application.

Decision lies with ORF

Whether the Austrian ESC 2026 will ultimately feature alpine flair or the vista of the Vienna Basin is now up to ORF to decide, which does not wish to comment on the ongoing application process. The decision on the venue is expected to be made by mid-August. The cities are bound by a comprehensive confidentiality agreement. The final of the largest music competition will take place either on May 16 or 23, 2026.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.