Final two cities bidding to host Eurovision 2026 in Austria revealed

The race to host Eurovision 2026 in Austria has come down to two cities.

After seven locations indicated interest in hosting, the final two are Vienna and Innsbruck.

They were the only two cities to put in official bids with the official deadline being Friday 4 July.

Other cities had shown interest in early June and were given tender documents, but pulled out of the race.

So what do the two bid cities offer?

Innsbruck

The bid has the slogan Together on Top, which actually refers to the high altitude of the city in the Alps.

Although it has a small population of just over 200,000 people, it has held large events.

It has hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics and has held multiple European championships in a variety of sports, including volleyball and handball.

It states it has 23,000 accommodation providers and over 340,000 beds in the region.

As a small city, it also offers visitors easy access to all facilities.

The stadium Olympiahalle is a 15-minute walk to the city and holds up to 12,000 people.

Vienna

The Austrian capital's bid has the slogan Europe, shall we dance?

The city has proven itself at major events, as it hosted the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.

The bid proposes using the same stadium, the Wiener Stadthalle, which has a capacity of 16,000.

If the Wiener Stadthalle is chosen, it would be the second year in a row the Eurovision venue also hosts a yearly ATP tennis tournament, with Basel's St. Jakobshalle holding the ATP 500 Swiss Indoors event.

It also raises its ability to host more than 1,700 journalists and 1,300 delegates in 2015, where the city recorded 1.3 million overnight stays that May.

The city has a population of over 2 million and transport links by rail, air and other methods to many cities in Europe.

Visitors could even stay in Bratislava in Slovakia, which is just 45 minutes away by train.

When will the city be chosen?

It is expected the announcement will be made by the 8th August this year.

Which city would you prefer?

• Innsbruck
• Vienna

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