With ORF’s Eurovision 2026 Host City Bid Application deadline fast approaching, the City of Graz is yet to determine if it is going to apply to host the competition next year. According to the latest reports Graz will make a final decision on its Eurovision 2026 bid by Friday 27 June.
ORF, the Austrian national broadcaster, has set the deadline for Austrian cities/ regions to apply for hosting the event on July 4th. So far Vienna, Innsbruck and Wels & Linz have officially announced that they will be applying to bid to host Eurovision 2026.
The City of Graz is yet to come to a final decision wether if it will officially bid to host Eurovision 2026. On Monday the Eurovsion 2026 potential bid was discussed at the Graz City Hall where after evaluating the hosting costs, the city officials concluded that hosting the event would cost circa 30 million euros instead of 20 milion euros. It is understood that the City of Graz cannot cover this hefty amount alone.
ORF’s news article reads:
Compared to the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest, for which Graz had applied but which was ultimately held in Vienna, the requirements for 2026 are significantly higher, Mayor’s spokesman Georg Fuchs told APA. At that time, the costs were estimated at around €20 million. However, this will not be sufficient this time. This is not due to the hall infrastructure, which can be brought up to the required standards relatively inexpensively – rather, it is due to new requirements and costs that have been added.
The City of Graz is currently evaluating all options and is studying ways to cover the cost of potentially hosting the event, with on going discussions with the estate and the federal government regarding cost sharing. Sponsorship opportunities will be also evaluated and explored.
Hence by Friday 27 June, Graz will make its final decision wether it will bid to host ESC 2026 or not. We should note that the costs of hosting the Eurovision Song Contest have increased enormously since 2015 according to the latest media reports in Austria.
Graz is vying to bid to host Eurovision 2026 at the Graz Stadthalle which can accomodate circa 11,000 spectators and is connected to the Graz Messe.
The 2026 Host City Bidding Process
Once a city sends an expression of interest to ORF it will receive a detailed application documents. Hence the potential host cities will have until 4 July to send in their potential bids and required documents to ORF.
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.
ORF will be unveiling the 2026 Eurovision host city by 8 August 2025.
