With 27 days left to the opening ceremony some exciting news about the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel have been announced during a press conference today!
During a cruise over the river Rhine in Basel some new and exciting details have been announced about the Eurovision Song Contest held in Basel, everything from ticket-sales, the opening ceremony and how Basel welcomes the public have been discussed.
Ticket Sales
Unfortunately, there are no more tickets left, with the final ticket round selling out in 22 minutes. Howerever, it will be possible to buy some in a monitored fan-sale through Ticket Corner, ensuring that no fake tickets will be sold. The executive producers have revealed that if it is possible they will try to create more seats so that more tickets will become available through Ticket Corner.
Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony will be held on Sunday,11th of May at 2 pm, and start at the Basel Town Hall, the delegations will walk from the town hall over the turquoise carpet that’s placed in the market square. This year’s carpet will be the longest turquoise carpet in Eurovision history so far! After the turquoise carpet the delegations will board vintage trams and make their way to the Eurovision Village where they will arrive at 3:15 pm at the main stage. The event is free to enter for the public.
Transportation
SBB, the public transport service in Basel, will make sure everyone has a safe and smooth journey to ESC. If you have a ticket for the ESC shows, the Arena plus and the Eurovision Club you will be able to get a discounted travel ticket on the day of the show from a Swiss locality to basel of the value of 20 CHF, and you can travel back and forth to the event free of charge within the TNW, RVl and Distribus network.
For those travelling by train, a number of extra buses, trams and shuttle trains will take visitors from Basel St. Jakob to Basel SBB after the shows. From this station it will be possible to make your last connections to Bern, Lucerne and Zurich, as well as the last S-Bahn services in the region. During the week there will also be extra night trams and buses in service. For more information and timetables check www.sbb.ch and download the SBB app for smooth travels.
The Live Shows
Of course we also got to hear some exciting news about the live shows during the press conference! Since the Eurovision Song Contest originated in Switzerland the three shows will revolve around the motto “Welcome Home” with each show focusing on their own story.
Semi-Final 1 will tell the story of “Where It All Began” paying homage to the birthplace of ESC.
Semi-Final 2 will tell the story of “Eurovision Fans”, focusing on everyone who loves Eurovision.
The Grand Final will tell the story of “Let’s Celebrate A New Winner” paying homage to all the winners of ESC, both old and new!
The opening and interval acts will combine traditional Swiss elements with international pop culture, showcasing the best Switzerland has to offer. One of the interval acts will be Paola, Peter, Sue & Marc, Luca Hänni and Gjon’s Tears singing a medley together celebrating Switzerland’s musical ESC legacy. Of course there will also be an act about Nemo, the current winner, who brought the contest back to Switzerland by winning in Malmö 2024 with his song ‘The Code’. More details about the opening act and interval acts will be announced shortly.
Tourism
Basel is doing its utmost best to welcome tourists, both from Switzerland and abroad, and giving them a lovely Eurovision experience. To get in the mood buses and trams have been wrapped in the Eurovision theme and posters about the contest grace the streets of Basel. Of course, there are also enough other activities to do during your stay in Basel. A special app is being launched in the beginning of May called “Basel-Welcome Home” which will combine all the Eurovision highlights with different parts of the city. The app will have an interactive map, helpful tips, real-time event updates and it will even give you personal updates.
Celebrating Diversity and Accessibility
Since the Eurovision Song Contest has always been about celebrating diversity and being “United By Music”, this year’s edition will be no exception. The SRG will be broadcasting the three television shows live and they will ensure that those who have hearing or visual impairments can also enjoy the shows. The shows on RSI, RTS and SRF will be accessible with audio description, subtitles and sign language. ESC fans who attend the live-shows will be able to use the SRG’s range of accessibility programmes via the ‘accessify.live’ website, more information can be found here: https://www.srgssr.ch/en/news-media/news/the-esc-2025-fully-accessible-on-rsi-rts-and-srf.
Throughout the city different events will be hosted that will include the locals and visitors, really uniting us all. Two of these events are extra special and are held on the 3rd of May. The first one is called the ESC 60+ disco, where all over-60s are welcome to party. All 1400 tickets are already sold out, making it probably the largest 60+ disco in the world.
The second event is the disco “Feel the Beat”, a party for people both with and without a hearing impairment, organised by the SRG, the Swiss Association of the Deaf and Sonos. What makes this disco so special is that there is a vibrating dance floor which makes it possible to feel the beat. There will also be special visual effects which help make it inclusive for all!
Furthermore, there will be different events hosted by local organisations in which the Swiss population can actively participate in. Information about all these events will be available on the “ESC Unites” community platform, which specifically launched for this year’s edition in collaboration with Swiss Solidarity.
Are you going to Basel and if so, what event are you looking forward to the most? Let us know in the comments! Be sure to stay updated by following @ESCXTRA on Twitter, @escxtra.bsky.social on Bluesky, @escxtra on Instagram, @escxtra on TikTok and liking our Facebook page for the latest updates! Also, be sure to follow us on Spotify for the latest music from your favourite Eurovision acts. As well as YouTube to see interviews and reactions to the latest Eurovision news.
