More and more cities in the Netherlands are daring to dream of bringing the Eurovision bandwagon on home soil. Earlier this week the three public broadcasters NPO, NOS and AVROTROS officially opened the 2020 ESC Host City Bid submission window. The latest city to show its interest in welcoming the Eurovision razmatazz is Enschede, a city located in the east of the Netherlands.

Enschede is located in the east of the Netherlands, namely in the Overijssel region. The city is very close to Germany.

Enschede is known to many as the city of knowledge and education having numerous universities and academies. It is the epicentre of music and culture in the east of the Netherlands, with a splendid range of shops and boutiques.

Enschede’s ambitions are to host the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest at Twente Airport‘s Hangar 11.

About Hangar 11 (Twente Airport)

Hangar 11 formerly used to service F16 aircraft, is now used as an event location, spread over 10,000 square meters and can house 10,000 people during a concert. The venue is large enough and has satisfactory acoustics and logistics.

Enschede Twente Airport is located outside the city of Enschede and is currently uncontrolled and closed for scheduled passenger flights and military operations. A local flying club uses the airport for their activities. The airfield is only operational for limited use by biusiness charter operators and an aircraft scrapping firm.

Mr. Marten Foppen ( Twente Airport’s Commercial director) says:

We must dare to think big! Why should it not be possible here? We have enough space.

Regarding safety Mr. Foppen adds:

That is becoming a bigger theme and is a unique selling point for us; we are on an old military base. That safety is good. And we have the scale here that is needed for such an event.

Picking up a map, Mr Foppen goes on to state that the airport has other buildings and areas that can host the Press Centre, Eurovision Village etc. He adds that delegations and artists can also land at Twente Airport by private jet or a BOEING 747!

Regarding the impact on hosting the event at Twente Airport,Mr. Foppen adds:

The economic impact will be huge. It is the way to put this region on the map!

Where will the Netherlands host Eurovision 2020?

So far Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Arnhem, Zwolle, Utrecht, Maastricht, The Hague, Leeuwarden and Den Bosch have shown interest in hosting the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest. Will they all make it to the final cut and comply with the EBU’s hosting requirements?

The EBU and the three Dutch public broadcasters  are yet to determine the dates for Eurovision 2020. The Netherlands will have the honour to host ESC 2020 next year thanks to Duncan Laurence’s magnificent victory in Tel Aviv earlier this month.