A week before the application deadline, Innsbruck Mayor Johannes Anzengruber, ESC project manager Veronika Rabl and the chairman of Innsbruck Tourism, Peter Paul Mölk, will be claimed by the Tyrolean state capital, venue for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. Your common credo: Innsbruck offers everything the ESC needs – and more.
“Our application will focus on Innsbruck’s uniqueness,” explains project manager Veronika Rabl. “We combine everything that makes ESC – diversity, internationality, enthusiasm – and give it a new, distinctive face with our special location and atmosphere.” As an extremely versatile city in the middle of the Alps, Innsbruck can offer a stage that is second to none in Europe.
Nature as a stage – the ESC with alpine panorama
“With us, nature also becomes a stage – with the highest skyline in Austria and pictures that inspire the world,” emphasizes Peter Paul Mölk, chairman of Innsbruck Tourism. “The ESC would not only take place in the Olympic Hall, but also captivate the whole city. I can understand that some are still skeptical. But I am convinced: At the latest when locals and guests celebrate together, it becomes an unforgettable festival for everyone-in the middle of the city, in an ESC village full of emotions, encounters and music. This is exactly pure joy of life.”
Compact, accessible, experienced together
The Olympiahalle provides for the Innsbruck concept as the heart of the event. Other areas such as the Tivoli Stadium, the small ice rink and the ice ring offer space for public viewing, fan zones and encounter- Everything on foot to the city centerwhich is perfectly prepared for a variety of visitors with its infrastructure: on the inside.
The competence for major events has grown in Innsbruck for decades – from public transport and security to the course and program. “This experience is a real asset for the ESC,” says Rabl. “The motivation in the application team is enormous-we want to show what Innsbruck can do!”
A city festival for everyone
“Innsbruck is a city of short distances and the large community,” emphasizes Mayor Anzengruber. “Our goal is to pull the ESC across the entire city-with an ESC village that reflects the attitude to the community.” The view also goes beyond the event: “With the Song Contest, we would like to take the opportunity to give the domestic culture scene new impulses. If cooperations, encounters and increased attention to creative initiatives are more incurred in the long term, that would be a nice side effect of this large event.”
Diversity as a lived reality
It is clear to everyone involved that the ESC fits well with Innsbruck. “The values of the ESC – tolerance, diversity, together – are deeply anchored in our city,” says Anzengruber. “This is not an image, but lived everyday life, as our political future contract shows. We organize events all year round that celebrate the variety of society.”
A ambassador for Austria in Europe
Innsbruck fits into the series of past ESC cities such as Basel, Malmö or Liverpool-internationally renowned, but manageable and open. “We are a city in the heart of Europe – culturally, geographically and emotional,” says Veronika Rabl. “This makes Innsbruck the ideal ambassador for Austria – modern, open, authentic.”
Alpine backdrop, Olympic inheritance, big stage
A special highlight of the Innsbruck application is the integration of the impressive natural scenery into the overall picture of the ESC – visually, conceptually and thematic. The upcoming anniversary of the Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck should also be considered and creatively staged.