The wait is over and Swiss city of Basel will host the 69th Eurovision song contest in St.Jakobshalle on May 13th and 15th the semi-finals, and May 17th the grand final.
Basel is a border town just like Malmö last year, and sixth year in a row that Eurovision isn't hosted by a capital city, and Eurovision fans may find themselves staying in either Switzerland, France or Germany during their Eurovision adventure.
St.jakobshalle was opened in September 1976 and renovated in 2015-2018 and has now 12.400 capacity in the main arena. Besides the main hall there are five other halls of different space so probably they will manage to house everything in the same building from dressing rooms to press center.
During the renovation it was suggested the arena to be named Roger Federer Arena, Basel's own tennis hero but that was blocked in the local council vote and St.Jakobshalle name remained.
The day of announcement of the venue and dates (August 30, 2024) 24 countries have already confirmed their participation in 2025: Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Filand, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Montenegro, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and of course host country Switzerland.
As usual September 1, 2024 has been set the earliest day of release for any song valid for Eurovision 2025.
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