The Hague withdraws from Eurovision 2020 host city race

Only seven cities remain in the race to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf has revealed that The Hague has decided to withdraw from the race. The city, which hosted the contest back in 1976 and 1980, does not have a suitable venue for the event.

Venue issues

The bid The Hague was preparing to host involved two potential venues for the Eurovision Song Contest. One of those was the Cars Jeans Stadium, where football club ADO Den Haag plays its matches. The size of the venue was not a problem, the fact that it doesn’t have a roof however was. The construction of a temporary roof turned out to cost too much to make a bid viable.

Another option The Hague mentioned was to build a large tent at the Malieveld, near the World Forum to host the contest. World Forum hosted the contest twice before, but is now too small to host. The tent would have been a solution, but the idea did not seem like an option after the city received the terms and conditions set by the organising committee.

The Hague supporting Rotterdam

Alderman Richard de Mos has confirmed that his city has withdrawn from the race. It however doesn’t mean they are pulling out of being involved altogether. Instead, De Mos has phoned his Rotterdam colleague Said Kasmi to express his support for the port city’s bid.

The Hague are offering Rotterdam a decent number of hotel rooms, in case those are needed. They’re also willing to organise some of the side events taking place in the weeks of the contest. The province of South Holland is also on board with the Rotterdam bid, making it the strongest bid in the race to host the Eurovision Song Contest next year.

Previously, Leeuwarden already withdrew from the host city race. Their venue, WTC Expo, has a roof which is too low to host the Eurovision Song Contest. Airport Twenthe in Enschede also expressed an interest to host, but the city council soon said no muncipal money would be available, so it seems we can cross that off the list as well. Below you can see a list of the remaining venues.

Which of these would be your preferred host city? Let us know!