Graz waives ESC 2026: Stop financial problems application!

Graz waives ESC 2026: Stop financial problems application!

Graz, Österreich - Graz withdrawn on June 27, 2025 from the race for the execution of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) 2026. The decision was announced by the Mayor Elke Kahr (KPÖ) and is based on the tense financial situation of the city. An application would only have been possible in the event of reasonable costs and with substantial financial support from the state and federal government, which, however, failed to report, such as vienna.at.

The estimated costs for the competition of the competition are around 30 million euros gross. Graz should have raised 29.35 million euros alone, which was not feasible in the current financial situation. "This sum is not portable in times of savings budgets," said Kahr. In addition, it is believed that revenue through ticket sales or detour tability can hardly be expected, even if high sales could attract in the weeks before the event, as well as the Kurier Notice.

lack of support and reactions

Despite the conviction that Graz had offered a suitable backdrop for the ESC, the necessary financial commitments from the state and the federal government were missing. This meant that Graz was now in a worse starting situation in Graz in 2015, where the city had applied for the 2015 discharge. Mayor Kahr again emphasized that a serious application would only have been possible with the support of the other state levels. The city is unable to bear the costs alone, which City Councilor Claudia Schönbacher also confirmed. She expressed that the ESC would have been an opportunity for the economy that has now been lost.

Aktuell are now in Innsbruck and Vienna in the competition for the event. Innsbruck has already confirmed his application and sees itself as a suitable venue with a suitable infrastructure. Another potential applicant is Linz/Wels. The deadline for submitting the documents to the ORF ends on July 4, 2025, and the decision on the venue is to be announced in mid -August 2025. The final of the ESC 2026 is expected to take place on May 16 or 23, 2026, how Manager-Magazin.de supplemented.

The withdrawal of Graz's application illustrates the challenges that the city -specific budgetary situations bring in event management. The financial models on which the ESC is based may have to be reevaluated in the coming years in order to ensure that future applications do not get in the same critical positions as that of Graz this year.