Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026: Everything you need to know
- Craig Land
- Jul 28
- 4 min read
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest returns for another edition after the victory of France's Lou Deleuze and her song Ce monde in Tbilisi last December.
The annual competition, which has run since 2003 and is modelled on the Eurovision Song Contest, is intended as a showcase for young talent across the participating European nations.
When is Junior Eurovision 2026?
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026 will take place on Saturday 24 October 2026. The show is normally broadcast in an afternoon slot in European time zones, thus resulting in a very early morning broadcast here in Australia.
The date for this year's Junior Eurovision is much earlier than recent editions. Since 2021, when France hosted a Christmas-tinged edition in mid-December, the show had fallen into a pattern of December shows.
Where will Junior Eurovision 2026 take place?
Malta will be the hosts of Junior Eurovision 2026, with the show to take place at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre in the Ta'Qali region of northern Malta. This venue will be familiar to Eurovision fans as the backdrop to the annual Malta Eurovision Song Contest national final.
This will be Malta's third time hosting the competition, having previously hosted in 2014 and 2016 after winning the contest in the previous years.
Maltese organisers have promised to transform the venue into a "Eurovision Festa Village" - a nod to the Maltese tradition of festa, being annual festivities in favour of local saints.
Notably, Malta came 11th at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2025 and subsequently volunteered to host after last year's winners, France, opted out. France have won four of the last six Junior Eurovision contests - this is the second time they have refused the opportunity of hosting, having recently hosted in 2021 (in Paris) and in 2023 (in Nice).
Which countries are participating?
16 countries will be participating at Junior Eurovision 2026 in Malta as follows:
Albania
Armenia
Cyprus
France
Georgia
Ireland
Italy
Malta
Montenegro
Netherlands
North Macedonia
Poland
Portugal
San Marino
Spain
Ukraine
This is two less participating countries than last year, with Azerbaijan and Croatia having withdrawn for 2026 after participating last year in Tbilisi.
Notably, three of the countries which boycotted the main Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna will participate at Junior Eurovision in Malta - Ireland, Netherlands and Spain. All three of these countries also participated at last year's Junior Eurovision event, despite having already announced that they would boycott the "main" event depending on the participation of Israeli broadcaster KAN.
This is unlikely to be an indication as to the participation of these countries at future Eurovision Song Contests. For one thing, the Irish participation is handled by a different broadcaster to the main Eurovision event - Irish-language broadcaster TG4.
More obviously, all three countries have indicated that their non-participation is a boycott of the continued participation of Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest. Israel has not participated in Junior Eurovision since 2018.
How will artists be selected?
All of the participating countries will select their artist either through a national final process or via internal selection.
Several countries have already announced their artist, with Cyprus to be represented by Harry Georgiou, France to be represented by Alec, Georgia to be represented by Davit Lomidze, North Macedonia to be represented by Ana Stojanoska, Poland to be represented by Wiktor Sas and Portugal to be represented by Salvador Rio.
So far, the only country to have selected and released a song is Albania, which will be represented by Eslin Kurti and her song Kërce Me Mua. Based on previous years, it is likely this song will be revamped and properly released before the contest.
What are the song rules?
The rules for Junior Eurovision are very similar to those at the main Eurovision Song Contest. Songs are required to be no more than three minutes in length and must not have been released commercially prior to the contest.
Unlike the main Eurovision event, where contestants can sing in any language, Junior Eurovision still maintains the "national language" rule. This means that participating songs are required to be at least 60% in an official language of the participating country.
Voting is essentially the same as at the Eurovision Song Contest, with points attributed by a mixture of 50% juries and 50% televote. Unlike at the main event, however, in recent years viewers have been allowed to vote for their own country, with an online platform used to facilitate voting.
Participating artists are required to be between the ages of 9 and 14 years old as at the date of the contest. However, adult songwriters are allowed to participate in the writing and production of the participating songs.
Why is Australia not competing?
Australia previously participated at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest between 2015 and 2019, including two podium finished with Isabella Clarke's Speak Up (2017, third place) and Jael's Champion (2018, third place).
However, Australia's participating broadcaster SBS announced our withdrawal in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has not returned since. Low viewing figures and the challenging timezone difference due to the earlier timeslot for the show are often inferred to be a reason for Australia's failure to return.
More information about the 2026 Junior Eurovision Song Contest will be added to this page as it becomes available.
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