The 70th Eurovision Song Contest will be hosted in Vienna, with the Grand Final scheduled for Saturday, 16 May 2026 at the iconic Wiener Stadthalle, and semi-finals on Tuesday, 12 May and Thursday, 14 May.
Several Austrian cities expressed interest in hosting the event. Vienna and Innsbruck were the two cities advancing to final negotiations. Vienna was confirmed on August 20, 2025.
Budget
Hosting Eurovision is a significant financial undertaking. ORF estimates that organising the 2026 contest could cost over €30 million, a substantial increase from the approximately €700,000 required to broadcast the event. This comes amid a €325 million cost-cutting initiative for the broadcaster, and additional financial commitments, including coverage of the men’s football World Cup and the Winter Olympics in 2026.
Tickets
An early ‘timeline’ Instagram video posted by ORF (and shortly thereafter deleted) indicated plans to begin ticket sales for the Wiener Stadthalle before Christmas 2025. Given the mid-December deadline to confirm participation, it’s likely organisers will announce ticket sales more or less immediately afterwards to distract from any unhelpful publicity that may or may not follow.
Please check our ticket page for the most up-to-date information.
Confirmed Participants
As a rule, broadcasters have to let the EBU know by October if they will take part. This year the deadline has been extended until after a General Assembly meeting in December. Member broadcasters are scheduled to discuss whether to exclude Israeli broadcaster Kan from the next Contest.
For now, we’re treating the list of participants as provisional, and will update after the mid-December deadline passes.