Newcastle is the latest city to confirm its bid for the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in the UK next year after current holder Ukraine was judged to be unable to host the event due to the Russian invasion.
The UK will now host Eurovision 2023 as runners up with Sam Ryder’s hit ‘Spaceman,’ and Newcastle City Council officially announced its bid on Monday morning. The North East City will face competition for hosting rights from cities across the UK including Sheffield, Manchester and London. NewcastleGateshead Initiative (NGI) is delivering the bid on behalf of Newcastle City Council.
Ian Thomas, destination director at NGI, said: “Our bid is a region-wide effort with support from our local authorities, and public and private sector partners from across the North East as we recognise the enormity of this opportunity. The potential impact of Newcastle hosting Eurovision 2023 is phenomenal. Eurovision will play a significant role in rejuvenating and sustaining our visitor economy, supporting our businesses and creating an even better place for our residents. We’ve seen other large events such as the European Professional Rugby Club finals attract 95,000 fans to the region which contributed £24m to our visitor economy in 2019, and World Transplant Games also brought in attendees from over 50 countries, which pushed hotel occupancy rates up by 13 per cent, supporting the hospitality supply chain and helping to sustain jobs within the industry. Eurovision will be on an even bigger scale, and we welcome this fantastic opportunity to bring this to the region.”
The list of shortlisted cities will be publicly announced on the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show on the morning of Friday 12 August.
