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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Ted Peskett

Principality Stadium would have had to clear schedule for six to eight weeks to host Eurovision

Cardiff's largest venue would have needed to keep a clear schedule for six to eight weeks in order to host Eurovision. The BBC reported that UK bidders were told by Eurovision organisers that venues would need to clear their event schedules for six to eight weeks in order to host the popular song contest.

A joint statement from a partnership made up of Cardiff Council, the Welsh Government and the Principality Stadium revealed that they will not be going ahead with a bid for Cardiff to host next year's contest. At the time, the partnership stated that having to stage the event would mean cancelling a number of events taking place at the Principality Stadium in April.

These include the European Wheelchair Rugby Championships, 'The Road to Principality' and a major international artist contracted to appear at the stadium. The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that a number of cities officially expressed an interest in making a bid in advance of receiving the full requirements of hosting the event.

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The winner of this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Turin was Ukraine. However, due to the ongoing Russian invasion, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) invited the BBC to host the contest in 2023. Once the BBC had accepted the invitation, a number of local authorities across the country came forward to say they would be making a bid.

A BBC questions and answers page relating to the Eurovision 2023 bid said that a final decision on selecting a host city would be based on the city or region's capacity and capability to meet the BBC and EBU's requirements. The BBC referred to the EBU's criteria last year, which called for a venue capable of holding a minimum of 10,000 spectators as well as a press centre among other things.

It is understood that this year's criteria would require an enclosed venue with capacity for 10,000 spectators. The only venue in Wales capable of hosting Eurovision next year would have been the Principality Stadium. A shortlist of cities competing to host Eurovision 2023 is set to be announced this week.

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