Eurovision, the world’s largest live music event, will take place in Vienna next year
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
VIENNA (AP) — The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will take place in Vienna.
Austria’s public broadcaster ORF, which will organize the world’s largest live music event, announced the location Wednesday morning.
Following Austrian singer JJ’s victory with “Wasted Love” in Basel this spring, the music competition will be held in May 2026 at the Wiener Stadthalle.
“After thorough examination and based on a unanimous jury assessment, ORF has concluded that Vienna’s bid is the most attractive not only in terms of infrastructure and logistics, but also economically,” ORF Director General Roland Weissmann said.
Innsbruck also applied to host the event. It will be Vienna’s third time as host, following 1967 and 2015.
“As mayor of Vienna, I am naturally delighted that Vienna has prevailed and will once again represent Austria next year. I am convinced that we will have a wonderful May together,” Mayor Michael Ludwig wrote on X.
He added that the city will have a budget of about 22.6 million euros ($26.3 million) to spend on Eurovision, including on events related to the contest that are open to all and free of cost.
“As mayor of Vienna, it is very important to me that cultural events are accessible to everyone, regardless of the size of their wallet,” Ludwig said.
Eurovision’s finale will take place May 16 after the semi-finals are held May 12 and 14, 2026.
JJ, whose winning song combined operatic, multi-octave vocals with a techno twist, and who also sings at the Vienna State Opera, won the contest in May.
JJ, whose full name is Johannes Pietsch, was Austria’s third Eurovision winner, after Conchita Wurst in 2014 and Udo Jürgens in 1966. The song contest is always held in the country whose singer won the competition the previous year.
The last Eurovision song contest, which has been uniting and dividing Europeans since 1956, was watched by 160 million viewers.