As the Eurovision fever hits Sweden and whilst the local media is buzzing with the speculation of the potential 2016 Eurovision host cities and venues, Sandviken joins the grand race with the Göransson Arena.

Swedish radio Sveriges Radio is running a story today on their official website reporting that Sandviken will submit a bid to SVT in order to host the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest. Sandviken is bidding to enter the grand race with the Göransson Arena, with the backing of the Municipality of Gävle.

The CEO of the Göransson Arena Mr. Fredrik Granting has said that  Sandviken has started working on the Eurovision bid as of yesterday along with the venue, the region and the municipality of Gävle. He goes on to say that hosting the event in Sandviken would be fantastic and something that hasn’t been done before in the city. He knows that it is a long procedure and there’s a long road ahead but he is enthuastic and believes in Sandvik’s chances.

The Göransson Arena in Sandviken has a capacity of 10,000 persons when it comes to hosting musical events.

SVT is currently in talks with the various cities and  potential venues, in 3 weeks from now all interested bidding cities and venues will have to submit their respective applications to the Swedish broadcaster, hereafter SVT will study and evaluate all bidding applications. The Swedish broadcaster is expected to make an announcement regarding the 2016 Eurovision host city by mid-July/ early August.

Hosting the Eurovision Song Contest is a great opportunity for the host city to showcase itself worldwide during the Eurovision weeks and is a great window to promote both the city and the region globally.

The preliminary dates for the 2016 Eurvovision Song Contest have been set on 10, 12 and 14 May.

Esctoday would like to thank Ms. Katarina Rus for contributing this piece of news.

Stay tuned to ESCToday for the latest news on the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest!