The city of St. Gallen has confirmed that it will not bid to host the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest. This FOLLOWS a suggestion that the new Olma Hall would host the Contest and also a possible tourism partnership with Liechtenstein was revealed.

The city of St. Gallen made the following statement:

“The city of St.Gallen, together with the canton of St.Gallen, St.Gallen-Bodensee Tourism and Olma Messen, has now studied the framework conditions in detail. St.Gallen is ready to host major events. Despite all the creativity in finding solutions, the extensive and demanding conditions formulated in the tender do not allow a candidacy with a chance of success. An application is currently not realistic, despite the tempting unprecedented international attention as a host city.

According to the tender documents, the host city in particular will be responsible for numerous services and costs. These include all expenses for security, city branding, energy, disposal, sewage, water, cleaning and shuttle service. The host city is also expected to set up and finance a Eurovision Village (fan zone with supporting program, concerts, live viewings, etc.) and a EuroClub as a party venue for the fan clubs. At the same time, existing sponsorship documents, for example those at the new St.Galler Kantonalbank Halle, must be covered. In any case, the procurement of sponsorship money is handled very restrictively. Overall, including an additional financial contribution that is crucial for the award of the contract, costs in the order of 30 to 40 million francs would be estimated, a large part of which would have to be covered by the public sector.

The number of hotels with more than 25 rooms cannot be met within the required maximum travel times. The exclusive allocation of the Olma site during the eight weeks of occupancy from the end of March to the end of May 2025 would result in difficult-to-estimate losses in revenue for Olma Messen and cancellations of trade fairs (including OFFA) as well as postponements of events. This would put a strain on Olma Messen’s long-standing good relationships with loyal exhibitors, partners and visitors. In addition, the infrastructure would have to be upgraded with costly expansions for the ESC. Conclusion: These high requirements cannot currently be met in the required form in our region.”

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Author: Richard Taylor

Source: Eurovoix