Basel to Host Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland in 2025

The Swiss city of Basel will host Eurovision in 2025, the organisers of the song contest have announced.

The Alpine republic earned the opportunity to host next year’s event after the Swiss artist Nemo triumphed in the 2024 contest with the song “The Code”.

The semi-finals and grand final are scheduled for 13, 15, and 17 May 2025 at the St Jakobshalle arena, alongside additional dress rehearsals during the same week.

Basel, Switzerland’s third-largest city, won the bid to host the world’s largest live music event, beating out major cities like Berne, Geneva, and Zurich.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the five-day contest, stated that their decision was based on several factors including the facilities at the concert venue, local infrastructure, and the ability to accommodate thousands of visiting delegations, crew, fans, and journalists from around the globe.

This will be the sixth consecutive time that the competition has not been held in a capital city and the first time the event is taking place in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Previous Swiss host cities for Eurovision were Lugano in 1956 and Lausanne in 1989.

“The EBU is thrilled that Basel has been selected as the host city for the Eurovision song contest 2025,” said Martin Österdahl, the executive supervisor of the Eurovision song contest. “The contest was born in Switzerland in Lugano back in 1956 and it’s great to be bringing it back to its birthplace almost 70 years later.”

Nemo made history by becoming the first non-binary artist to win the Eurovision contest when they emerged victorious at the Malmö arena in May.

The 2024 contest was marred by large-scale pro-Palestine protests in the Swedish city, as well as the last-minute disqualification of the Dutch contestant Joost Klein, following accusations of “threatening” behavior by a camera operator.

A Swedish investigation into Klein’s conduct was closed earlier this month, with prosecuting authorities stating they couldn’t prove that “the act was capable of causing serious fear or that the man had any such intention”.