The stage for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 is now under construction. It comes after St. Jakobshalle was officially handed over to SRG SSR to prepare for the Contest.
Stage one of several items to be built
St. Jakobshalle will now be exclusively fenced off for the next six weeks whilst preparations for the Contest take place. From Monday (April 7th), access to the arena will be heavily restricted. As well as this, parking spaces around the arena will be inaccessible as these will be used to help power the Contest itself.
Meanwhile, the Eishalle ice rink – which is situated next to the arena itself – currently remains outside of the restricted perimeter. Serving as the press centre for Eurovision 2025, the Eishalle will officially become part of the ESC bubble from Monday, May 5th.
Official work to begin constructing the stage will begin this week. Several other features for the show – such as the green room and the box feature for the stage – will also need to be constructed. However, information on where the green room will be is yet to be revealed.
As a result of this, several functions of the area will be inaccessible, including the nearby pool and shopping centre, which will be closed off until after the Contest has finished. Sports teams which use the area around St. Jakobshalle for their training have since described the preparations as “a catastrophe” due to the lack of other resources for them to train.
The story of Eurovision 2025 so far
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.
Basel, Bern & Biel/Bienne, Geneva, and Zurich submitted bids to host next year’s competition, with Basel and Geneva being shortlisted as the final two cities. After the shortlist, it was revealed that Basel will host Eurovision 2025, at St. Jakobshalle with the shows taking place on May 13, 15 and 17.
Are you excited to see the finished stage in just a few week’s time? Who are you looking forward to seeing on the stage? As always, please let us know what you think by getting involved in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow ‘That Eurovision Site’ on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Threads, tumblr, and Bluesky for more information about Eurovision 2025!
News Source: Basler Zeitung
Photo Credit: Lucia Hunziker
Giwrgos Oiko