ESCToday in collaboration with the City of Stockholm will be bringing you a series of articles leading up to the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in order to showcase and introduce the 2016 Eurovision host city Stockholm to our readers. Today we will have a look at the extraordinary Globe Arenas Complex in the host city, compromising  of the 4 Eurovision 2016 venues: Ericsson Globe Arena, Tele 2 Arena, Annexet, Hovet and the impressive Skyview attraction.

This part of the city, namely the Stockholm Globe Arenas Complex and City brings back fond memories, as I experienced my very first Eurovision Song Contest at the Globe Arena, 16 years ago. Boy has it changed since then!

Stockholm Globe Arenas is Scandinavia’s biggest event premises holding nearly 300 events a year with more than 2 million visitors per annum. Let’s check out the premises for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

The Ericsson Globe Arena (Eurovision 2016 venue)

Our beloved 2016 Eurovision venue the Ericsson Globe Arena, opened its doors on 19 February 1989 and has pretty much become a symbol of Stockholm and Sweden. The architects behind this epic architecture are Berg Arkitektkontor AB.

It is world’s largest spherical building, having hosted most of the massive events in the city in the last decades, including various Melodifestivalen finals and the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest. It has an audience capacity of 13,850 during a sports event and +16, 000 during a concert. The venue is well known for its red interior and flexibility, as the seats in the arena can slide in and out enabling to ehance the size of the arena and adequate the premises for each event’s requirements and necessities.

Today it is the national arena for Sweden’s national hockey team. The Ericsson Globe has hosted sold out concerts for internationally acclaimed artists: Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, U2 etc.

In 2016 the venue will play host to the Eurovision Song Contest for the 2nd time, but this time it will be welcoming double the number of participating countries!

The Hovet (The 2016 Eurovision Press Center)

The 2016 Eurovision Press Center will be housed in the Hovet, next door to the Globen Arena. A strong army of nearly 2,000 international journalists will be making the Hovit their work place during the 2 Eurovision weeks. Press conferences, meet and greets, interviews etc will all be held at the Hovet come May.

Hovet will be totally transformed for the occasion. The press centre will inlcude: the Press Working Area,  the Fan Area, the Press Conference Room, the Pigeon Hall Desk, the Info Desk,the Cafeteria/Restaurant etc.

I was quite impressed with the size of the premises when I visited the venue. They will have to get rid of the ice floor in the arena in order to enable the press centre!

Hovet is amongst the most well known arenas in Sweden, it was contructed back in 1955 and was known as Johanneshovs Isstadion. In 1963 a special designed roof was incorporated to the venue, and in 1989 the arena was officially named Hovet. The arhitects responsible for this unique venue are Paul Hedqvist and David Jawerth. Hovet has an audience capacity of 8,094 during a sports event and of nearly  9,000 during a concert.  Today Hovet is the home for  AIK Hockey and Djurgården Hockey, but is also used for events and concerts. Many wordclass acts have performed here: Beatles, AC/DC, Queen, Iron Maiden etc.

The Tele2 Arena ( Eurovision Party venue)

The Tele 2 Arena is a pretty new venue, it wasn’t there back in 2000 and it’s quite a gigantic infrastructure, you will be taken a back with its massive size and impressive architecture when you see it!

The Tele 2 Arena will host the mega Eurovision The Party on Saturday 14 May with a star studded line up of Swedish Eurovision and Melodifestivalen acts backed with a strong 20,000 audience. The results of the Swedish jury will be telecast live from the Tele 2 Arena on 14 May during the grand final. A grand gigantic screen will be erected inside the arena for public viewing! So if you haven’t a got a ticket for grand final, it’s still not late grab a ticket for  Eurovision The Party!

Mind you, I was quite overwhelmed when I visited this venue, its grand, impressive and elegant. It has a very Scandinavian feel to it. Imagine Eurovision being held in this gigantic venue one day? Who knows if Frans belts the grand prix we might be heading back to Stockholm!

The Tele 2 Arena opened its doors on 24 August, 2013 and is one of the world’s most modern multi arenas with a sliding roof, free wifi, Stadium vision technology, a transparent façade and only 6 meters of separation between the front row and the sidelline of the football field.

 

In June 2014 Tele2 Arena was awarded the Venue of the Year at the global The Stadium Business Awards. The architects behind this mega piece of architecture are White Arkitekter. The Tele 2 Arena has an audience capacity of 30,000 during a sports event and 40,000 during a concert.

The arena complies with the UEFA and FIFA for interntional football, and hosts many home games for local teams. Mega concerts have been held here by both national and international celebrated artists: Robyn, Kent, Lars Winnerbäck Avicii, The Rolling Stones, Justin Timberlake, Aerosmith,  Gyllene Tider etc.

Annexet (The Delegation Area)

Annexet is the smallest of the 4 Eurovision arenas, and will be housing the Delegation Area during the Eurovision Song Contest with the changing room cabins for the artists, lounge area, viewing rooms, sound check area, backstage area etc.

I have cherished memories of the Annexet as it hosted the After Party during the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest, where I got to mix and mingle with the artists and got the chance to meet Anders Berglund, Roger Pontare (Sweden 2000), Anders Lundin and Kattis Ahlström (hosts of ESC 2000), Svante Stokselius to name a few!

The Annexet is adjacent to the Globe Arena and has also hosted former Melodifestivalen After Parties.

The Annexet opened its doors on 19 February 1989 and was used as a training hall for Stockholm’s hockey teams. Today it is used a multi purpose arena for various events; fairs, seminars, luncheons, dinners, conferences etc. The venue has an audience capacity of 2,000-3,500 for business events and 3, 500 for concerts. Berg Arkitektkontor AB were the architects responsible behind this venue.

Skyview- The Attraction

You must not miss this attraction when you visit the Globe Arenas complex and come to Stockholm for the Eurovision Song Contest!

Skyview is one of the most popular attractions in Stockholm that will take you to the top of the Ericsson Globe Arena, from approximately 130 meters above sea level you will get a chance to see the panoramic view of Stockholm with its picturesque landscape. The two SkyView gondolas depart every 10 minutes, whilst the the ride last around 20 minutes.

Skyview- a glimpse of the attraction- the video

SkyView opened its doors in 2010. Globe Arena’s roof construction  was reinforced with 42 tons of steel and a further 70 tonnes of rails were mounted on the arena’s façade. The specially designed glass gondolas were built by ski lift manufacturers in Östersund.

Quality Hotel Globe

All in all the Globe Arena Complex is truly a city within itself with 4 magnificent venues, a shopping mall, restaurants, bars, cafes and an amazing hotel- the Quality Hotel Globe. The hotel is adjacent to the Globe Arena with its Arena Restaurant overlooking the interior of  the 2016 Eurovision venue.

The magnificent hotel offers 18 conference rooms and 527 extraordinary rooms. You can enjoy a drink, lunch or dinner at the hotel’s Brasserie X, Arena Restaurant and Hotel Lobby.

The hotel is aptly nestled between the Tele 2 Arena and the Globe Arena, with the Annexet and the Hovet just next door.

Quality Hotel Globe- the video

Stockholm is all set to embrace the forthcoming 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. The Swedes are working round the clock in order to showcase an extraordinary mega music fest come May!

Don’t forget to read our series of Discover Stockholm articles leading up to the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest including The first impression of Stockhom- the host city!

For more information on Stockholm you can visit visitstockholm.com

You can follow our forthcoming series of Discover Stockholm articles with photographs and videos on ESCToday.com and on our official Esctoday Instagram and ESCToday Facebook pages.