Sietse Bakker, the Executive Producer for Eurovision 2021, has shed more light on the upcoming ESC 2021 tickets sales according to Dutch news portal RTL Niews.

Earlier this month the Dutch government announced that it would allow an audience of 3,500 spectators to attend the Eurovision Song Contest if circumstances regarding the COVID 19 pandemic would permit.

Sietse Bakker (Eurovision 2021 Executive Producer) has shed more light regarding the ticket sales for Eurovision 2021.

Anyone who hopes to attend one of the nine shows of the Eurovision Song Contest next month will need lots of luck according to Sietse Bakker. Even those people who managed to secure a ticket for last year’s canceled edition, will now be offered the opportunity to repurchase their tickets, will also need a pot of luck. It will be exciting to see if they can manage to grab a ticket for the shows again.

Sietse Bakker told ANP:

I expect ticket sales to conclude very fast again. The enthusiasm will probably be enormous. If you didn’t buy tickets last year, you have to be very lucky if you want to be able to get a ticket now.

Earlier this month the 2021 Eurovision Organizing Body found out that the 2021 Eurovision edition at the Rotterdam Ahoy will be a Fieldlab event. 3,500 spectators are expected to attend the nine Eurovision shows (six rehearsals, the two semi-finals and Grand Final.

Ticket sales in May

Bakker expects tickets sales for Eurovision 2021 to kick off by early May and goes on to comment:

People who had tickets to a show last year will be given the opportunity to buy tickets for that show again.

Due to the COVID 19 measures, only 40% of the initial tickets will be available. Anyone who got a ticket last year but misses out on purchasing a fresh ticket will be out of luck. The Eurovision organization is not working on an alternative for this group.

Bakker adds:

For these people it will be very unfortunate, but that is what we have prepared them for in the past year: you could be left out. I always say: the Eurovision Song Contest on TV is the very best experience. But this is not totally true for these people.

Let’s face it, it will be a disappointment for many people. We know that a lot of people have been waiting for a Eurovision Song Contest, forty years after the song contest last landed in the Netherlands.

No parties or Euroclub in Rotterdam

According to Bakker, fans will not see big Eurovision parties in Rotterdam as they are accustomed to. Due to the current COVID measures and restrictions the delegations have been asked to stay in their hotels as much as possible.

In previous years, many countries have thrown parties in the week leading up to the Eurovsion Song Contest and there was a club that was entirely devoted to the Eurovision Song Contest.

Sietse Bakker sheds more light regarding the parties and Euroclub:

So no lavish parties or a nightclub with Eurovision music. The atmosphere in the city will be different. But I think that, especially after the past year m anything that feels like something fun again, will be extra intense for everyone.

Only ‘Dutch audience’ most likely

It is yet unclear if foreign fans will be allowed to travel to the Netherlands for the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest and if tickets will be available to fans staying outside the Netherlands. Currently foreigners cannot travel to the Netherlands due to the COVID 19 restrictions in the country unless they have a valid reason.

Hence it seems more than likely that the 3,500 spectators at Eurovision 2021 will be Dutch. More information regarding the ticket sales and the travel restrictions in the Netherlands will be disclosed by late April.

The 2021 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to be held on 18, 20, 22 May at the Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Source: RTL Niews/ ESCToday