Eurovision 2020: Arnhem prepares its bid to host the contest

The Netherlands 2020

by Sanjay (Sergio) Jiandani June 3, 2019 2:00 pm 922 views

The city of Arnhem is eyeing to host the forthcoming 2020 Eurovision Song Contest next year and started to prepare its pontential bid to hold the competition next year.

Arnhem

Arnhem is all set to bring the Eurovision Song Contest home next year when the competition travels to the Netherlands.  The city is planning to bid with the Gelredome as its potential Eurovision venue.

Due to the fantastic success of Duncan Laurence, the Netherlands will be the host country for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2020. Arnhem is seriously considering to host the compeitition.
Mr. Jan van Dellen (Arnhem’s  Councilor for Economic Affairs and City Marketing) says:
We are very enthusiastic here in Arnhem, but we must of course seriously investigate whether it is feasible in terms of investments, facilities and logistics. We will certainly do this together with the region.

The Eurovision Song Contest is a major event that attracts a large audience, as well as delegations from 42 countries, 2,000 journalists and more than 200 million viewers throughout Europe. The Gelredome Event Complex has already announced their willingness and ability to receive the song festival.

Arnhem has experience with hosting very large events. Moreover, the city has many facilities. Gelredome is one of the few places in the Netherlands that is available during the period that the Eurovision Song Contest takes place, that can accommodate enough audiences and that is set up for the registration of major events. Arnhem is easily accessible, both from Germany and from Amsterdam.

Herre Dijkema (Veluwe Arnhem Nijmegen Tourism) is also pleased with the Arnhem’s Eurovision bid:

Very good if Arnhem is a candidate. It also fits nicely in the line to profile Amsterdam abroad less and other regions more.
With the Gelredome as the perfect place for the Eurovision Song Contest, it is also a wonderful opportunity to put the city and the region on the map with foreign visitors and viewers.
Moreover, we can immediately show visitors what else the city and the region have to offer.

The preparations

The Gelredome Stadium in Arnhem can house between 25,000-40,000 spectators (photo credit: gelredome.nl)

According to local Dutch media the City of Arnhem is taking its bid quite seriously and  working round the clock in order to prepare its potential bid.

Arnhem hopes to receive a visit from the organization of the Eurovision Song Contest in mid-July. If that happens, the city will be amongst the serious contenders to host the competition in 2020.

Jan van Dellen is already consulting with various parties about the content of the bidbook that the city must provide to support the partnership with the NPO, AVROTROS, NOS and the European Broadcast Union.

The deadline for that bidbook has reportedly been set for 3 July according to Gelderlander.nl.

Only by mid-June Van Dellen will know the complete details and requirements of the bidbook. Hereafter all the applicant candidate cities will receive a list of the criteria they have to meet in order to win the 2020 ESC Host City Bid.

Jan adds:

We are already trying to sort things out .In doing so we use, among other things, what we have already described in the context of the organization of the 2022 Women’s Volley Ball World Cup at the GelreDome.

Van Dellen has also learned from  NPO that the host broadcasters will be visiting the potential host cities and locations in the middle of July.

If the visit also passes through Arnhem, the councilor knows that he is close to his goal:

The final choice will be made by the end of July or the beginning of August.

The Arnhem councilor will be joining the candidacy of Arnhem as an ESC host city with various entities in the region, including the management of the GelreDome Stadium in Arnhem, the City Marketing and Tourism Agency and the  Toerisme Veluwe Arnhem.

Van Dellen has also been in contact with various municipalities in the region:

I spoke with the Mayor of Nijmegen this week. Everyone is convinced that we can capitalize on a unique opportunity.

Where will the Netherlands host the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest?

So far  circa ten cities/regions in the Netherlands 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?

Will they all make it to the final cut and comply with the EBU’s hosting requirements? We will have to wait a little longer to find out. NPO, AVROTROS and NOS officially kicked off the 2020 ESC Host City Bid process last week. The host city selection will consist of three phases.

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.

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