It’s almost been 2 months now, since Austria and JJ triumphed in Basel, Switzerland. However, it’s only a few days ago, when Austrian broadcaster, and next year’s host broadcaster (ORF), closed the application process, and in the end, only 2 bids were presented.
Let the bidding begin
After Austria were declared the winners, interest for potentially hosting the contest was great in all of Austria, and multiple cities didn’t even hesitate to make their bid. On the other hand, when the cities were presented with the details regarding hosting the contest, it turned out that most bidders couldn’t handle the demands.
Bids were put in place from cities such as Graz, Linz and even Ebreichsdorf. To be fair, they were encouraged as well, just to show the great interest that the country of Austria, would have to host the upcoming contest next May.
Many of the cities that did plan on bidding, also did in 2015, but also many of them noted, that despite not much had changed since 2015 for the public eye, a lot had apparently changed economically, which held back nearly all the bids.
Vienna or Innsbruck
It will be a far more simpler process and decision, than it has been in the past many years. Practically, the shortlisting of the bidding cities, was done by itself and we’ll just focus on the two candidate cities.
Vienna – Europe, shall we dance?
Vienna probably doesn’t need any presentation, as the capital city of Austria. The city is by far the largest in the entire country, the city has hosted the song contest twice before and has already proven that it is more than capable of hosting the competition. Nonetheless, let’s look into the details regardless.
The Venue: The city of Vienna is bidding with the Wiener Stadthalle venue, which is split into multiple halls, but the contest would absolutely be hosted in Hall D, which has a capacity to host more than 16.000 spectators. This is the same hall that hosted the contest in 2015. With the venue being split into multiple halls, it also make the venue well suited to have a press center and potentially other activities nearby. The other halls are used for minor events, such as private events, smaller sporting events, hosts training facilities and even a bowling alley as well as swimming pools. To put it simply, this venue has everything the heart might desire and if ORF are mainly focused on the venue, then this is simply unbeatable.
Airport: As the capital, the city also hosts the only major airport in all of Austria, Flughafen Wien-Schwechat. Which not only serves Vienna, but even serves the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, as well. The airport served almost 32 million passengers alone in 2024, making it one of Europe’s busiest airports. The airport is also home to one of the busiest airlines in all of Europe, that being Austrian Airlines, which has flight connections to various multiple cities in all of Europe, both Western and Eastern European capitals and smaller cities. Reaching Vienna would be easily achievable by any delegation that decides to participate.
Sights: If you plan to partake in the Eurovision activities in this city, there’s zero chances that you won’t have anything else to do. Vienna is know for it’s historic and cultural rich history, and offers countless of historic sights and amazing architectural buildings. If we should name a few, then the Schönbrunn Palace is among the highest visited by tourists, and just next to the palace is also the Schönbrunn Zoo. There is also the Riesenrad, which is one of Vienna’s most well-known landmarks, which is located within the Wurstelprater, which is the second oldest amusement park in the world, which is still operating. This was just a few things, but should it be Vienna, then we might make a longer guide for what else to do in the city, since this was barely anything.
Transportation: You have literally all the possible ways of transportation in Vienna, whether it’s by flight, bus, train and even boat, you got it. The city center has a well connected and easy to use metro system. The train services even offer regular transportation to nearby countries even, such as Czechia, Hungary and of course Slovakia. The city is even located by the Danube river, so you could technically sail into the Austrian capital. The city is overall well connected and easy to get around in, with any kind of transportation, so if there’s a need of a ride, then you should be good at any time of the day.
Concluding words: This city hosted the contest in 2015, we already know it’s more than capable to host it once again. With Austria having hosted the contest this recent, and even suggesting the same venue as back then, they pretty much already have the blueprint and should be more free to improve on the potential, which the city had in 2015. This is pretty much the safe pick, so it’ll be more a question about, if the contest can once again lure people back to visiting this stunningly amazing city.
Innsbruck – Together on Top
Innsbruck might need a somewhat introduction, but it is not that unfamiliar, that some might think. To begin with, the city is the capital of the Tyrolean region in Austria and is the fifth largest city, in the country. To most Europeans, this city is the main attraction spot, when it comes to skiing in the alps. Just to validate that even further, the city is a two-time former host city of the Winter Olympics, having hosted in both 1964 and 1976.
The Venue: Speaking of the Olympics, this brings us to the venue, the Olympiahalle which is the second largest possibility of an indoor arena in all of Austria. This arena can host up to 12.000 spectators, if floor standing is included, making the venue more than suitable enough to host the contest. The Tyrolean Ice Arena is even located right next to the venue, which could host the press. Other than being built for the 1964 Winter Olympics, hence it’s name, has also hosted loads of concerts by many famous artists, so it’s a venue, that has quite the history and experience for big events.
Airport: The city does indeed have it’s own airport, but it’s a minor international airport. It has an estimate of just slightly above 1 million passengers per year and the majority of the flights into this airport, are actually seasonal. It does have connections with some larger cities around Europe, but limited. Otherwise, the town is also dependent on travelers making use of the region, with some coming from the airports in Zürich, Switzerland, München/Munich, Germany and Milano/Milan, Italy.
Sights: As a former Olympic host city, and the fifth largest city in all of Austria, of course there are also some sights to see in this city of the alps. Innsbruck hosts loads of hidden gems, such as both multiple churches and museums. Celebrating all that is Tyrolean and mountainous in the region, with castles in the area and even in the far north of the city, there is also the Alpine Zoo.
Transportation: Despite the city’s far away location from the rest of the country, it still benefits from it’s location, close to it’s neighboring countries, with a highroad connection that goes from Munich, Germany, to Verona, Italy through the city. The trams are a key factor in this city, also taking passengers close to the bordering countries.
Concluding words: Innsbruck might not have the same capacity as the country’s capital, but from what we’ve seen in the more recent past, even the song contest being held in a smaller city, can also enhance the experience. Smaller cities provide all the needed spots to be closer and easier to reach once there, and makes it easier to spread the joy to the entire city. This bid, could absolutely do, what the Swiss didn’t do for 2025, and that is making it a real alpine experience for the song contest.
Concluding thoughts
After going in-depth on both candidates, we’re in for a treat! Whether it’ll be Innsbruck or Vienna, the contest will be in good hands for it’s 70th anniversary and we even saw how Austria celebrated the 60th anniversary, so ORF are by far more than ready to host a magnificent contest in 2026.
We still took the option to ask what #YOU guys think, and ran a poll on Twitter(X), with the majority of our voters saying, that Vienna should be given the chance to host once again. Note that we asked, before we knew the final shortlisting of the candidate cities.
It’s now been a full month since 🇦🇹 #Austria won #Eurovision2025, but where could we possibly end up next year?
Let’s have a poll and hear where #YOU would like for #Eurovision2026 to be held! 🗳️
— escYOUnited (@ESCunited) June 19, 2025
With all that in mind, are #YOU Team Vienna OR Team Innsbruck and do #YOU plan to join us in Austria in 2026?
Let’s hear from #YOU on our forum site right HERE, or visit us on Facebook, X(Twitter), Instagram, Youtube, TikTok and Discord.
Source(s): Listed above, as the title for each candidate city – both in German
