Last week Liverpool was chosen to be the Eurovision 2023 host city with two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May and the Grand Final on Saturday 13 May.
The announcement was not only was exciting, but it also gave some clarity to tens of thousands of fans who are hoping to attend the Contest next year.
However, since then, a great deal of discussion and panic has swept fans as accommodation availability is rare and if so, only for extortionate prices.
To try and help answer questions and alleviate panic we are sharing some of our tips and tricks on attending Eurovision 2023 next year.
Accommodation
Right now is the worst time to book
Straight after the announcement the demand and interest on attending is at its absolute peak.
Supply of rooms can not meet demand and prices soar to unbookable levels even as high as $100,000+ for the week.
This is particularly strong on sites like booking.com and Airbnb where bookings can be made with no upfront cost and for free cancellation.
People will cancel plans and prices will go down
Over time people will begin to cancel their bookings. Perhaps they can't afford it, they can't take time off work or group plans fall apart.
But the number one factor that will help reduce costs is tickets.
Tickets will be hard to get this year and many people will cancel their trip when they can't secure them. Even if half the people who have provisionally booked miss out, that opens up half the available accommodation.
Additionally, if supply is still low Liverpool City Council has floated the idea of a cruise ship on the Mersey River to help with more rooms.
So overall if demand goes down and supply goes up that equals lower prices.
Have patience!
"But I want some comfort of having any type of accommodation!"
Your best bet is to book in the surrounding towns (if available) that have rail networks including Southport, Chester, St Helens, Warrington, Wigan and more.
Additionally, Manchester can be reached in less than an hour from Liverpool and there is plenty of accommodation.
Do keep in mind that in regular seasons most trains won't be running past 11:30pm (no news yet on whether trains will run later for Eurovision).
Overall tip
Don't pay for anything for an extortionate price now or anything outside of Liverpool.
Sure, make a free cancellation booking if you can, but be patient, things will get cheaper in time.
Tickets
Tickets will be extremely hard to get
This may be the most in-demand Eurovision in recent memory and on top of that, the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool has a pretty small capacity of 11,000.
There is also no guarantee the stadium will hold 11,000 once modifications are made for staging and any other production needs.
We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it does feel like you'll have to be very lucky to get your hands on tickets this year.
There will be many events on the ground so even if you do miss out on tickets, the experience will still be worth visiting.
Consider other shows outside the live broadcasts
Since tickets for the live show will be hugely in demand, do consider going to the jury show or the family shows.
You still get to see all the acts and the show as it would appear live in the stadium (but with mock voting and qualifier announcements), but availability will be much better.
You can then watch the live TV broadcast from the fan village, a local bar or your accommodation.
It may take several months for tickets to go on sale
The host city has been announced but that doesn't mean tickets will be ready yet. As mentioned, many aspects of the stadium will need to be worked out to get a full understanding of what tickets can be sold.
We will be lucky if tickets go on sale this year.
OGAE fan clubs can be helpful
Most years the official Eurovision fan clubs (OGAE) are provided with ticket packages to attend Eurovision. These are often sold in bundles (eg you have to buy a package of all three live shows or all three jury shows) and are often quite pricey.
There is, however, no guarantee OGAE clubs will be provided with tickets and if they are, supply is often low.
Different clubs take different approaches. For OGAE Australia you must already be a member so if you haven't joined yet, you're out of luck.
However, it may still be worth joining as club members often try and help each other out where possible plus you can just meet with other like minded people at events.
Find out more about joining here: https://ogaeaustralia.com/
Airfares
Look at flights to Manchester
Liverpool's John Lennon airport is quite small and can only be reached from Australia with two-stops.
Manchester's airport has many more options (including just one stop from Australia) and is only an hour away from Liverpool by train.
Don't book yet unless you're happy to go without a Eurovision ticket
As mentioned tickets will be extremely tight to get, if you don't want to go unless you have a ticket we don't recommend buying your flights yet!
Final advice
So overall we can recommend two main things: patience and managing your expectations.
We wish everyone the best of luck with accommodation, tickets and getting time off work to go, but even if you can't, Eurovision will still be the amazing event on TV that we all know and love.
Are you hoping to go to Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool?
Yes, for sure!
Maybe
Unfortunately not
For continued updates on all the Eurovision news follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. All links at: https://linktr.ee/aussievisionnet
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