The Austrian national broadcaster, ORF, and the City of Vienna have signed the Memorandum of Understanding for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest and have released more details regarding next year’s contest.

Earlier today at 11:30 local time at the Wiener Rathaus (Vienna Town Hall), the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed and agreed by the Austrian national broadcaster, ORF, and the City of Vienna. Signed by the ORF general director Alexander Wrabetz and the Mayor of Vienna Michael Häupl, the MoU ensures the funding of promised benefits for the contest which is set to take place next year at the Wiener Stadthalle. As well as this, a number of details regarding next year’s competition have been unveiled. Below is a schedule featuring the upcoming events.

Upcoming events

• Mid-November – Tickets go on sale (Date to be confirmed)
• December – “Building Bridges” artwork to be unveiled
• 26/01 – Insignia handover and semi-final allocation draw
• 16/03–17/03 – Head of Delegations meeting
• 11/05 – Rehearsals begin
• 17/05 – Welcome reception at the Wiener Rathaus (Vienna Town Hall)

Ticket sales

Earlier this year, it was revealed that ticket sales for the 60th Eurovision Song Contest would go on sale in mid-November. Although a date is still yet to be officially confirmed, a date is expected to be revealed in due course. Tickets will go on sale for a total of nine events including the semi-finals, the grand final and the rehearsals. The public have once again been warned about tickets which have already been offered by other websites, stating that; This has nothing to do with ORF and the EBU.

“Building Bridges” artwork

Earlier this year, the slogan for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest was unveiled as Building Bridges, which had been selected out of hundreds of proposed ideas. Today it was announced that the artwork for the 60th edition of the contest would be revealed at the end of the year in December. An exact date has yet to be specified.

Welcome Reception

On Sunday 17 May 2015, the Welcome Reception for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest will be held for the artists and delegations participating at the competition. The event will be hosted at the Rathaus (Town Hall) where the Mayor of Vienna will also be attending the event.

ORF searching for 800 volunteers

In mid-November, the Austrian national broadcaster, ORF, will begin their search for around 800 Austrian volunteers for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest. The call for volunteers will open next month where more details will be unveiled.

The 2015 Eurovision Song Contest is set to take place on the 19, 21 and 23 May at the host venue – the Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria.

Stay tuned to esctoday.com for all the latest news on the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.