The Austrian cities of Wels and Linz have officially registered for hosting Eurovision 2026, both cities are yving to apply for hosting ESC 2026 with a joint bid.
Austria will have the grand honour of hosting the 2026 Eurovision edition thanks to JJ’s epic victory in Basel last month. Austria and ORF will be organizing the Eurovision Song Contest for the third time.
The Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final will be held on either 16 May or 23 May 2026. Hence the provisional dates for ESC 2026 are either: 12, 14, 16 May or 19, 21 and 23 May 2026.
Austrian cities and municipalities have been invited to submit their respective bids and documents with the deadline set on 4 July 2025.
Wels and Linz have joined forces to bid for hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. Both cities have officially registered ORF’s ESC 2026 Host City Expression of Interest.
Wels and Linz are aiming to submit a joint bid with the Messe Wels Hall 22 as the potential venue to host Eurovision 2025, which promises to be both sustainable and green.
The newly built Hall 22 at Messe Wels will be ready by January 2026. Linz intends to the host the public viewing events if it wins the joint bid.
The City of Wels’ official press release reads:
Wels and Linz are ready for the ESC! Following the ORF’s call for expressions of interest for the Eurovision Song Contest, Wels and Linz officially registered today, Wednesday, June 4. The minimum requirements for an official expression of interest to host the world’s largest and most prestigious music event have been met to qualify for the multi-stage selection process.
The ESC bid team in Upper Austria is broadly and highly qualified. Commissioned by the mayors Dr. Andreas Rabl (Wels) and Mag. Dietmar Prammer (Linz), the bid team includes Peter Jungreithmair (Managing Director of Wels Marketing & Touristik GmbH, Wels Region Tourism Association), Mag. (FH) Marie Luise Schnurpfeil (Managing Director of Linz Tourism), and the two municipal directors Dr. Peter Franzmayr (Wels) and Mag. Ulrike Huemer (Linz).
Since Austria’s victory at the Eurovision Song Contest, Upper Austria’s largest cities, Wels and Linz, have expressed a strong desire to host the mega-event in the central region. Governor Thomas Stelzer has also already pledged his support for Wels and Linz’s efforts to host the Eurovision Song Contest. The conditions – from infrastructure and venue capacity, international connections, and adequate accommodation to organizational implementation concepts – are certainly excellent in Wels and Linz. They are looking forward to receiving the further documents for the final application.
