The Eurovision 2025 season is starting to take shape. In recent times, it has been revealed that Geneva and Basel are the two cities in Switzerland left in the running to host the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest. All of this is obviously possible thanks to Nemo, who won the 2024 contest with their song “The Code”.
What this editorial will explore?
This editorial will go into detail about Basel as a city, as well as potential pros and cons when it comes to the city as the host of such a big contest as Eurovision. This editorial will also explore know aspects of Basel’s bid. As well as a written editorial, Euan and Jonathan also recorded a video version of this editorial, which you can watch here.
About Basel as a city
Basel is a city in the North-West of Switzerland, it is situated on the River Rhine, and is closely bordered by both France and Germany. Within Switzerland it is the 3rd biggest city after Geneva and Zürich. Swiss German is the main language used in the city. In 2019 Basel was regarded at the tenth most liveable city in the world.
In terms of public transport networks Basel operates mainly on Trams and Buses. You can obtain a 30 day Basel Card, which enables you to use public transport for free around the city. The BaselCard’s are obtainable through hotels and BnB’s in the city.
In terms of Hotel Rooms in the city Basel, the city offers near 10,000. There is an international airport in Basel, which also serves as an airport for Mulhouse in France and Freiburg in Germany. The airport serves most European countries and airlines, as well as airlines from Canada and South Korea.
Details about Basel’s bid
Basel’s bid details are somewhat more detailed than Geneva’s, they have stated that they would host at the St. Jakobshalle, which can house up to 12,500 spectators. Basel have even gone as far as to create their own slogan “crossing borders” – which likely is a play on words due to Basel’s proximity to both France and Germany. The City of Basel is willing to spend €30-€35 million on hosting the contest.
The City of Basel have indicated other part of the city that they would use for other aspects of Eurovision 2025 as well. They have stated that they would use the St.Jakobs Ice Rink Arena as the press center. It has also been hinted that the Basel Exhibition Centre would be used as a venue for Euroclub and Eurovillage. There has also been a proposed Plus Arena venue St Jakobs Park Stadium, which can house up to 20,000 spectators, this was an approach that Stockholm took in 2016, so is not a new concept to Eurovision. In the plus arena is where the viewing parties would be held rather than in Eurovillage.
Throughout the city, Basel would also create a Eurovision Street and Eurovision Boulevard in a way to bring the locals in on the fun, and introduce fans to the city.
Why Basel would make a good host city for Eurovision 2025
There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm in Basel for potentially hosting the contest, the city has more hotel rooms than Geneva, which means more fans will be able to attend. It is also not as big of a tourist attraction as Geneva therefore there should be less crowding in this city.
The BaselCard which you can obtain in hotels and BnB’s would be useful for fans and press wanting to get around the city. The fact this card is free of charge would also help fans save money in a country that is already pretty costly to travel to.
They seem very organised, they seem like they already have concrete ideas of how they want to host and where they want to host different events, while plans can change this is an indicator of a city that can put on a good show in and out of the arena.
Drawbacks for Basel as a host city for Eurovision 2025
The proposed Eurovillage venue being inside an exhibition centre, may take away from some of the Eurovision experience. During Eurovision being in a big open space watching the contest feels like part of the Eurovision experience and being able to walk around different stalls and different stages is part of the Eurovision experience we know and love today. Eurovillage should be a more “free to roam” experience than that of sitting in an arena watching the show.
The Plus Arena does not have a roof and is home to a football club, whether you can have the plus arena would all depend on whether this club would be willing to move out for 6 weeks. Another issue would be the fact it does not have a roof, while it is being used as a viewing party venue, Basel’s weather is still pretty cold in May, and it being outdoors could be an issue for fans. If this means that public viewings would no longer take place in Eurovillage that could also be an issue as that is seen as a big part of the experience each year.
There are not many international links to the airport outside of Europe. This would restrict fans from outside of Europe from either going, or they would have to take multiple flights in order to get to Basel. Basel airport itself although it serves countries from all over Europe isn’t as big as Geneva airport and crowding during the contest could definitely be an issue and could lead to delays.
All about Eurovision 2025
Switzerland will be hosting the 69th edition of the competition following Nemo’s historic win at Eurovision 2024 in Malmö. A few weeks after their win, Reto Peritz, and Moritz Stadler, was announced as the Executive Producers, with the other roles revealed in July 2024.
The following cities submitted a bid to host Eurovision 2025:
In mid-July, Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR announced that Geneva and Basel were the cities that made the final shortlist for hosting Eurovision 2025.
With the bidding period now over, the candidate cities will now present their bid, with site visits commenced at the beginning of July. By the end of July 2024, SRG SSR is set to reveal the two potential host cities that are still in the running, with the winning Eurovision 2025 host city to be revealed by the end of August.
Do you think Basel should host Eurovision 2025? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads and Bluesky as we head towards Eurovision 2025!
News Source: That Eurovision Site
Photo Credit:Christoph Radtke/Wikimedia
Euan T