SVT, the Swedish national broadcaster, has set the date for the Melodifestivalen 2026 competing acts reveal.

SVT will he holding a special press conference on Tuesday 2nd December in Stockholm to officially unveil the 30 competing acts at the forthcoming edition of Melodifestivalen.

The Swedish national selection will kick off on 31st January in Linkoping with its first semi-final and will conclude on 7th March in Stockholm with the Grand Final.

Melodifestivalen 2026 will consist of 6 live televised shows ( 5 semi-finals and 1 grand final):

  • 31/01/2026- Melodifestivalen 2026 Semi-final #1- Linkoping
  • 07/02/2026- Melodifestivalen 2026 Semi-final #2- Gothenburg
  • 14/02/2026- Melodifestivalen 2026 Semi-final #3- Kristiansand
  • 21/02/2026- Melodifestivalen 2026 Semi-final #4- Malmo
  • 28/02/2026- Melodifestivalen 2026 Semi-final #5- Sundsvall
  • 07/02/2026- Melodifestivalen 2026 Grand Final- Stockholm

A total of 30 songs will compete in the Swedish national selection, 6 songs will compete in each of the five semi-finals,  a total of 12 songs will compete at the Melodifestivalen 2026 Grand Final for the golden ticket to Austria. The 2026 Swedish Eurovision entry and will be determined via a mixed public televoting/international jury deliberation.

Sweden in Eurovision

Sweden debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1958 and has won Europe’s favorite television show 7 times ( 1974, 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012, 2015, 2023) and has hosted the competition thrice in Stockholm (1975, 2000, 2016), thrice in Malmo (1992, 2013, 2024) and once in Goteborg (1985).Eurovision Song Contest travel packagesEurovision Song Contest 2025 tickets

Sweden has been enjoying much success in the competition in recent years, the Scandinavian country has achieved 12 TOP 10 placings in the contest in the past 14 years including 3 victories.The Nordic country has partaken 64 times in the competition throughout its history.

In 2025 KAJ represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel with their epic entry ‘Bara Bada Bastu’, achieving an honorable 4th place in the Grand Final.


Sanjay (Sergio) joined esctoday.com in December 2006 as an editor. He was appointed as the Head of Press of ESCToday.com in 2011. Hereafter in 2016 he was promoted as the Head of International Relations & Communications at ESCToday. Sergio has covered the Eurovision Song Contest live 23 times since 2000, having worked for several international magazines and media outlets.