Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, aims to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Member of Scottish Parliament Miles Briggs has said he thinks Edinburgh should be the next host city of Europe’s favourite music show.
Edinburgh: Kyiv’s sister city
One of the reasons Miles Briggs is mentioning for Edinburgh’s chances is their connection to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The cities have been sister cities for over thirty years. Add to that that Edinburgh hosted the Eurovision Song Contest before, in 1972, and you’ve got enough reasons to bring the contest to the Scottish capital.
Interestingly, the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has already expressed her support for Eurovision in Scotland. She is however aiming for Glasgow – and not the capital Edinburgh. Nevertheless, Miles Briggs has sent his proposal to Nadine Dorries, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, as well as Tim Davie, the Director General of the BBC. He hopes to make a positive case for Edinburgh to host Eurovision next year.
Royal Highland Centre to host?
There is a bit of an issue when it comes to the proposed location of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023, if Edinburgh were to host. The city currently does not have a clear frontrunner in terms of a venue. Miles Briggs didn’t mention any venues in his Twitter proposal, so it remains a guessing game.
Back in 1972, Edinburg hosted the contest in the Usher Hall. With a capacity of 2,200, the venue may be beautiful, but not suitable for a modern contest. Located in the outskirts of the city, we’ve got the Royal Highland Centre right next to Edinburg Airport. Officially, Ingliston is the town where you can find this multi-purpose terrain. The Highland Hall there has a capacity of 10,500.
In the United Kingdom, many cities are seemingly lining up to bring the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 to their cities. Below, you can find the full map of cities lining up. They include cities like Leeds, Glasgow, London, Cardiff, Sheffield, Manchester and the most recent UK Eurovision host city, Birmingham. Meanwhile, The Guardian have suggested the EU could be preparing a rival bid for Brussels to host. At the same time, Prime Minster Johnson has said he wants the contest to take place in Ukraine after all.
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