27. January 2026
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70 Years of ESC – The Eurovision Song Contest is Coming To You

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

No matter whether you love it or hate it, the Eurovision Song Contest is definitely one of the most iconic and special music shows in Europe and worldwide. Not just due to its very trusty fan base, it celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. Visiting the shows in Vienna this year might not be possible to you. However, the organizing EBU gives you an additional opportunity to feel the ESC spirit, likely with sufficiently less travel effort and ticketing hassle. For the first time ever, there will be the Eurovision Song Contest Live Tour. I felt that this unique opportunity is definitely worth a dedicated posting.

 

About the Eurovision Song Contest Live Tour

The anniversary Eurovision Song Contest will take place at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, in May 2026. The semifinals take place on 12th and 14th May, while the final show is n Saturday, 16th May 2026. Despite three countries returning, Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania, there are just 35 entries, the smallest number since 2003. This is majorly caused by five countries, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain withdrew due to the Israel’s entry and their participation of the Gaza war. This is the biggest boycott in ESC history, equivalent to the voting system boycott in 1970. Hosting defending winner Austria and the “Big” nations France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom are directly qualified for the final show.

One month after the big event, the Eurovision Song Contest Live Tour kicks off at the O2 Arena in London. There is a total of ten shows. Avicii Arena in Stockholm hosts the last show of the tour on 2nd July 2026. With shows in Hamburg and Cologne, Germany is the only country which hosts two shows. The other countries visited are, in chronological order, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and France. All shows are held in large arenas.

 

How will the Shows be like?

There is rather limited information about the evening. The German press release by promoter Semmel Concerts gives rather limited information. Based on that, there are three groups of artists (translated quotes in italics):

  • Artists, who wrote ESC history during the last decades
  • Ten acts of the 2026 ESC Grand Final in Vienna
  • Special surprises differing in any host city

The show will feature a mixture of ESC original songs and new versions of ESC classics. The EBU will announce the ten ESC 2026 acts after the final has taken place, so that you likely don’t know about half of the artists on stage when you buy the ticket. So far, I haven’t found any information about the artists on stage.

 

How does the ticketing work?

There is an exclusive pre-sale for the Eurofans, i.e. people who have a Eurovision Song Contest fan account at the EBU. Registration deadline for that will be 1st February 2026. I did not find any information about the in-fact pre-sale and public sale dates. For Cologne, for example, tickets start at about 60 EUR.

 

Eurovision Song Contest Live Tour 2026

Here are the tour dates of the Eurovision Song Contest Live Tour.

Mo 15.06.2026 London (United Kingdom) – O2 Arena
We 17.06.2026 Hamburg (Germany) – Barclays Arena
Fr 19.06.2026 Milan (Italy) – Arena Milano
Sa 20.06.2026 Zurich (Switzerland) – Hallenstadion
Mo 22.06.2026 Antwerp (Belgium) – AFAS Dome
Tu 23.06.2026 Cologne (Germany) – Lanxess Arena
Th 25.06.2026 Copenhagen (Denmark) – Royal Arena
Sa 27.06.2026 Amsterdam (Netherlands) – Ziggo Dome
Mo 29.06.2026 Paris (France) – Accor Arena
Th 02.07.2026 Stockholm (Sweden) – Avicii Arena

 

Eurovision Song Contest

Here are all postings related to the Eurovision Song Contest:

 

Concerts in 2025

Here are all my Concert postings published in 2025:

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