Following the host city announcement today as Rotterdam, we’ve taken a look at the locations around the city that will be hosting all the ceremonies during the build-up to the contest, including the Host City Insignia Exchange and the Opening Ceremony!

City Hall to host the Host City Insignia Exchange

The first ceremony of the season will be the Host City Insignia Exchange, which traditionally takes place at the end of January. The semi-final allocation draws usually take place during the ceremony to determine which semi-finals the countries will take part in, as well as which semi-final the Big 5 and the Netherlands will vote in.

One of the few buildings to survive the 1940 bombing raids of Rotterdam will host the ceremony – the City Hall. It is located on the Coolsingel, the most important street in the city.

The venue has previously hosted major events including the draw for the 2018 ABN Tennis Tournament – which was also held at the Rotterdam Ahoy – and the Tour de France Grand Départ a few years ago.

This year, the Host City Insignia Exchange and Allocation Draw took place at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art on 28th January 2019. Going on previous years, a similar date should be expected for the 2020 contest.

Five stars for the delegations?

One of the next main events in the Eurovision organisation calendar is the Head of Delegation meeting, which is where the HoDs from all participating countries receive the information about the contest. Each country must also submit the final editions of their entries on this day, along with promotional material such as artist biographies and images.

This meeting is set to take place in a hotel in Rotterdam. The hotel in which this meeting will take place has not yet been announced publically. All Reference Group meetings will also take place in the Rotterdam hotel.

Opening ceremony at Erasmus Bridge or the Coolsingel?

The opening ceremony is the official start to the Eurovision madness in Rotterdam! A celebration of all the artists with interviews with the Eurovision team and press outlets – it’s always a spectacular event.

Next year, Rotterdam have two places in mind to host the ceremony – Erasmus Bridge and the Coolsingel. Wherever the ceremony is held, it is known that the broadcasters are planning on making the carpet out of recycled materials!

The Erasmus Bridge (or Erasmusbrug, in Dutch) connects the north and south parts of Rotterdam as is named after a prominent Christian renaissance humanist, Desiderius Erasmus. The bridge was official opened by Queen Beatrix in September 1996, and was opened to traffic a month later. The bridge has been crossed during two Tour de France races in 2010 and 2015, and it featured in Jackie Chan’s 1998 movie, Who Am I?

Erasmus Bridge, Rotterdam – © Tom O’Donoghue

The Coolsingel is one of the best known streets in central Rotterdam, and it is located in the Cool district. The street is currently undergoing redevelopments to reduce traffic congestion costing an estimated 47 million Euros. The street runs alongside a canal, and is also home to the City Hall – which will host the Host City Insignia Exchange – the Beurs-World Trade Center, and “the world’s most glamorous McDonald’s”, according to the press!

Coolsingel, Rotterdam – © indebuurt.nl

In the upcoming weeks and months, we will report on any more updates to locations around Rotterdam, so keep an eye out for that!

Are you looking forward to the contest in Rotterdam? Will you be attending the Opening Ceremony next year?

Let us know in the comments below or join in the conversation on social media @ESCXTRA.