How to go to Eurovision 2023!
For those new to my blog, I LOVE EUROVISION! I have been going to Eurovision parties for years, where everyone dresses up and brings food from their allocated country. I've been super creative and DIY'd outfits and even won the coveted "Best Costume" trophy amongst my friends.
After loving parties for years, I consulted my bucket list and decided to go to Eurovision! I have now been to the last three; Lisbon in 2018, Tel Aviv in 2019 and Turin in 2022. (I also had everything booked for Rotterdam 2020, pah!)
Here’s my guide on…
How to go to Eurovision 2023…
1. Book an Airbnb straight away!
OK so you may disagree with this, but I suggest booking an Airbnb as soon as the Eurovision host city is announced. This is usually a few months before Eurovision tickets go on sale, BUT there is a reason for this being the first step!
The price and availability of hotels and Airbnb’s change dramatically when everyone starts to realise, and demand and supply mean the prices go up and finding boujee accommodation in a great location, goes down.
The dates may not have been announced yet, but the Eurovision Song Contest is always the 2nd or 3rd week in May. At the time of the Eurovision host city announcement, both the venue and EuroVillage have been decided, so you can choose your location confidently. I follow Eurovision.tv on social media, which sends countdowns, updates and alerts on Eurovision.
I decide that I'm going regardless of whether I get tickets to the actual shows. There is so much more to Eurovision than the live grand final TV show. Watching televised shows in the Eurovillage has an amazing festival feel, sooo much fun! There are also organised WiWi and Euro club nights to enjoy where many of the artists perform.
I travel with friends so I prefer an airbnb over a hotel as it means we get to share a lot of space and enjoy time together in communal areas. It can be more cost effective if there are a few of you going together. I also prefer Airbnb as they will always have good quality hairdryers, (which means I don't need to pack mine!), washing facilities, our last one even had phone chargers & speakers and of course, houses/apartments all come with free wifi!
TIP: Check whether there is a free cancellation policy in the event your trip is reliant on getting show tickets
2. Save for Eurovision (or Hustle!)
I can write many, MANY articles on just this bullet point alone! In fact, I am going to write a separate article about the creative ways I hustle, but in the meantime, I have written this article about one of the ways I save.
I start saving towards a cost neutral Eurovision after I get back from the previous one, so I give myself a year to cover the cost. It means what could be considered an expensive treat doesn’t end up costing me anything.
3. Book Flights for Eurovision
You’ve booked your Airbnb and paid the deposit, you now need to get there. One of the criteria to host Eurovision 2023, is that the host city has to be within close proximity to an international airport.
Glasgow and Liverpool both have international airports. I’ve linked to the cities they serve!
If you are looking in Winter, the summer flights may have not been released. Google all the current carriers which service a suitable route and sign up for newsletters for seat sales and ticket release dates. That way you can compare prices and you’ll have a better chance of getting a good deal. Don’t limit yourself to just the low cost carriers. We flew with TAP Air Portugal from Manchester to Lisbon.
As a guide, we booked Tel Aviv at 6am on the morning the EasyJet tickets went on sale (September for May travel). By 10am the prices had gone up to £268! You need to book before airlines realise it's Eurovision, more demand means higher prices. Waiting isn’t always the best option.
Also, consider different airports; we flew from Manchester to Milan for Eurovision 2022 and caught a train across to Turin. Conversely, you can also travel by train across most of the continent! Many fans we met at the OGAE night had caught the train from Paris to Turin!
4. How to get Eurovision 2023 tickets
So this is where I share the secrets, the ones that only true Eurovision fans know! There are actually several live shows the week of Eurovision. The semi finals are Tuesday and Thursday plus the televised Grand Final on Saturday…but…each show has a jury final too.
The jury finals are where the magic really happens! This is where the judges actually score the performances and are usually the evening before the televised show. The televised shows are for the audience vote only. Yep. Have I blown your mind? 🤯
Jury finals are exactly the same as the televised final, the presenters, their script, the interviews, the interval acts and the entire show itself. The only thing which is different is the points rundown. The presenters will announce different points and winners, as they’re not known yet.
The judges’ points are not announced on the night, but calculated and used towards the televised semi/final the following evening.
This is why I think going in the run up to the televised grand final is a good idea. Going to the jury final means you get to see the real thing, and there is one for each of the televised shows. There are also friends & family dress rehearsals for each televised show. Plus, there’s a better chance of getting Eurovision tickets if you're available more of the week.
So in summary, there are 9 shows you can apply for, for Eurovision tickets.
Definitely keep your eye on my socials and the Eurovision website for announcements of when Eurovision tickets go on sale. The process of buying Eurovision tickets is very similar to buying for any other festival.
Keep your eye on socials as you will usually get a few days warning. Make a note of who the ticket provider is and if you’re not already, register an account with the provider. This will make purchasing and the check out faster when fastest finger first matters! As of October 2022, we don’t know who the ticket provider is, but my educated guess is it’s going to be ticketmaster. They are one of the bigger providers in the UK, and for the events hosted at The Hydro arena and M&S Bank Arena
Have your passport and potentially your covid passports to hand, I’ve needed my passport number and proof of covid vaccination in the past, so better to be fully prepared!
Log on to the website a little before the sale goes live and you’ll usually enter into a queuing system where you’re allocated a number. Once it gets to your number, you’ll be able to purchase tickets.
TIP:- You can usually only order a maximum of 4 tickets
Don’t be despondent if you don’t get tickets as there are usually a couple of ballots, so there’s still a chance to get Eurovision 2023 tickets.
I’d recommend going to a Eurovision jury final, you won’t be disappointed! And then you get to watch the televised final in the Eurovision village and enjoy the atmosphere. Ah, amazing!
5. Join a Eurovision fan club
I don't want to say too much here as I don't want to break the conditions of my own membership…but if you do love Eurovision, I would suggest joining a fan club. I'm an OGAE UK member and I love receiving my Vision magazine every quarter. I was even interviewed for it last quarter! As with all fan clubs, there are member only incentives. I wasn't a member when I went to Tel Aviv and there looked to be some pretty amazing nights for OGAE UK members with past and present Eurovision stars and even a Madonna after party! Lemme in!
Ah, back in the pre Coronavirus days where we could ask for selfies and hug people! Yep, that’s me and Mr Paul with Estonian entrant Victor Crone!
6. Get involved in Eurovision 2023!
Don't do what the rest of the UK do and turn on the final not knowing who anyone is, hearing the songs for the first time and then whinge about political voting. It's much more fun if you get involved! And the reason I think the UK were so successful in Eurovision 2022.
I suggest following these amazing people:-
Wiwi blogs - For quite literally everything going down in Eurovision. Their YouTube videos are great summaries of what's going on in and around the host city and they know a lot about the who's-who of Eurovision. Yes, I'm a fan, but I cannot tell you whether the person writing the current Swiss entry also represented Belgium in 2006!
Mans Zelmerlow - Let me tell you, not only is he easy on the eye, he is hilarious! He has won AND hosted for Sweden, and presented our Eurovision selection process; You Decide, a few years ago. We went to his WiWi night in Tel Aviv, and I'm not exaggerating when I say it was one of the most fun nights of my life! He also has the greatest non-Eurovision, Eurovision song, see below!
Måns Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede find out how to create the perfect Eurovision Song Contest song
Our entry - This can be hit or miss as some people like Sam Ryder really got in to Eurovision and did a lot of interviews home and away, others like Michael Rice not so much. But I would recommend following our entry to keep on top of UK news.
Eurovision - For up to date news on host city announcements, dates for Eurovision ticket ballots and news on all entrants.
Spotify - This is when I know it’s almost time, I love it when Spotify release the playlist for Eurovision! I’ve saved and downloaded the playlist which gets added to as more countries’ entries get chosen.
TIP! Don't skip the non English speaking songs. There are still some amazing songs not in English and you'll miss them, like these beauties…
Would love to know if you found this helpful. Tune in for more Eurovision posts! Feel free to ask me any questions below.
xXx
