The Municipality of The Hague has officially applied to host the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, thus becoming the eighth city to enter the first phase of the 2020 ESC Host City Bid process.

The Hague is no new name when it comes to the Eurovision Song Contest as the city has already hosted the competition twice before, namely in 1976 and 1980.

The Hague has officially submitted an application in order to host the 2020 ESC edition and thus joins seven more Dutch cities who have all officially applied to host the competition.

Candidacy yet to be finalised

According Omroepwest.nl the Municipality of the Hague has submitted its application and now has four weeks to decide whether it will proceed further with its application.

A spokesperson from The Municipality of the Hague told Omroepwest:

The organization has a whole book of requirements and in the coming weeks we will investigate whether it is feasible to bring the competition to The Hague.

The Song Contest fits very well with the ambitions that we as the city have when it comes to the organization of events.

The spokesperson went on to say:

Cities can register aka apply until Wednesday. We have done that. Now we will receive all the conditions that a host city must meet, such as the size of the location (venue), the costs and all the other conditions and requirements that are set. If we wish to host the song contest  we have to submit the bid book within four weeks in order to proceed with our candidacy.

We are extremely proud that Duncan has won and that thanks to him we might be able to see the even live in The Hague. The contest really fits the city, but we have to look at it step by step. The Municipality of Rotterdam has complete its bid 80%. We are not that ahead. We are now going to study  the set requirements with ease and then we will decide whether to continue with our candidacy.

Two potential venues

The spokesperson of the Municipality of the Hague shed some light on the two potential venues in the city:

At first we thought of the World Forum, but it turns out it is too small to host the contest. The ADO Stadium and the Malieveld remain as options. We have to install a roof on the stadium, but we can also set up a tent at Malieveld as its custom in the Lowlands.

The 2020 Eurovision Song Contest will be co-organized by Dutch national broadcasters NPO, AVROTROS, NOS.

The 2020 Eurovision Host City Bid Process will consist of three phases with the final decision on the 2020 Eurovision host city expected to take place by mid summer.