Despite being less than a week since Måneskin won the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, a number of Italian cities have already put their hats in the ring for the potential to host the world’s biggest singing competition.
We decided to have a look into some of them, the arenas proposed, and how likely it might be for them to host.
Bologna
Potential Venue: Unipol Arena
The Unipol Arena in the suburb of Casalecchio di Reno, Bologna, is one of the largest indoor arenas in Europe, with the capacity for concerts at 20,000 people.
Bologna is well-known for its terracotta brick buildings, and is a large enough city to feature the required number of hotel rooms and press facilities for the event.
While the arena is in one of the more awkward places in Italy, not conveniently located in a city centre, Bologna does feature an international airport, making it one of the main selling points of using the venue.
Florence
Potential Venue: Nelson Mandela Forum
The “birthplace of the Renaissance”, Florence is the jewel of Tuscany, boasting beautiful architecture and breathtaking city skyline views.
Florence is the home to the Nelson Mandela Forum, which has the capacity for an audience of just over 8,000 fans.
Florence is near two airports – the Florence Airport and Galileo Galilei Airport – and will give fans the opportunity to visit the world-famous Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Milan
Potential Venue: Mediolanum Forum
Known as the city of international fashion, Milan is Italy’s second-largest city (behind Rome), and is also looking into hosting Eurovision 2022.
The potential venue in Milan is located in one of it’s suburbs, Assago, placing it outside of the city centre.
The Mediolanum Forum is mainly a sports arena with a capacity of 12,700, but has had experience in hosting music events and concerts since it opened.
Milan is a well-connected city featuring a large metro network and a large international airport, and is connected to many other cities in the area.
Naples
Potential Venue: PalaBarbuto
The third-largest city in Italy (behind Rome and Milan), Naples is known to many Eurovision fans as the host city of the Eurovision Song Contest 1965.
One of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, Naples is believed to be the birthplace of pizza and ice cream.
Naples’ potential venue should they be chosen to host would be the basketball arena PalaBarbuto, which has a capacity for 5,500 fans.
While the smaller size of the venue and potentially less convenient location may be harmful in their bid to host, they do have an extensive hotel capacity and an international airport on their side.
Pesaro
Potential Venue: Vitrifrigo Arena
Known as the “City of Music”, Pesaro is a city not necessarily well-known to people outside of Italy, but is set on the ideal Mediterranean coast.
While a smaller city than many others placing bids, Pesaro does have a few things going for it, including its location near the E55 European route, a highway connecting Sweden to Greece, and providing the city with strong transportation links to the rest of central Europe.
The city also has Vitrifrigo Arena, amongst the largest indoor arenas in Italy, with a capacity to hold 13,000 Eurovision fans.
Reggio Emilia
Potential Venue: RCF Arena
The most unrealistic choice out of every bid that has been made so far, the city of Reggio Emilia is putting forth the option of a 100,000-person capacity open air arena as the venue for the competition.
In reality, the EBU is unlikely to approve this bid, and would want the arena to have a roof, which would then require construction, once again working against the city’s potential.
It’s unlikely we’ll be heading here for Eurovision.
Rimini
Potential Venue: Rimini Fiera
Often put forth as the potential host city should the micronation of San Marino ever win the contest, Rimini is a beach-front city just half an hour’s drive from San Marino.
The potential venue being offered by the city is the Rimini Fiera fair centre, with the capacity for up to 10,000 fans for certain events.
While a fair centre is certainly an option Eurovision has never tried, it can’t be ruled out. In 2017, Kyiv hosted Eurovision in an exhibition centre, so the potential is possible.
Rome
Potential Venue: PalaLottomatica
The Italian capital has also put its hat in the ring as a potential host city.
The venue of choice if Rome is selected as the host city will be the PalaLottomatica, an arena that can host up to 11,200 people for basketball games, and can offer plenty of capacity for concerts such as Eurovision.
The host city would also be a big draw for Eurovision fans and tourists, with many tourist spots to visit in between those wonderful contest-filled nights.
Sanremo
Potential Venue: Teatro Ariston
Italy’s sentimental bid comes from the city of Sanremo, home of the world-famous Sanremo Music Festival, upon which the Eurovision Song Contest is based.
The problem comes with the Teatro Ariston. It only has the capability to host an audience of 2,000 people, making it an unlikely selection for the host broadcaster.
But we can always dream, can’t we?
Turin
Potential Venue: Pala Alpitour
Turin is seen by many to be the front-runner of the potential host cities that could host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2022.
The city was apparently previously shortlisted by the Italian delegation as a potential host city in the case of a potential victory with Francesco Gabbani’s ‘Occidentali’s Karma’ in 2017.
Turin lies in the north of Italy, close to the borders of France and Switzerland.
Should Turin be chosen as the host city, the venue of choice would be the Pala Alpitour, which can have a capacity of almost 13,500 for end-stage concerts.
Verona
Potential Venue: Verona Arena
“We are lost in Verona”
But Artistic Director of the Verona Arena doesn’t see it as such, putting the city forward for the potential to host next year’s contest.
While he admits the likelihood is slim, he also says never say never.
However, Verona Arena doesn’t have a roof – it’s a Roman amphitheatre that would require vast amounts of work to have the potential to host just the logistics of Eurovision.
There is no news when or how a decision will be made. Keep following us @aussievisionnet during the off-season for progress.