How a city sells itself to the Eurovision organising committee offers important insight into how it will sell itself to Europe in May. With the public release of Rotterdam’s bid book — effectively its hosting application — we now have an idea of what the port city has in store and what values and attributes it hopes to convey.

Celebrate diversity

Maastricht, as you know, made much of its location near Belgium and Germany to define itself as “the most European” city. Rotterdam took a totally different path and one far more visceral, describing itself as “the most international” of all Dutch cities — and one that has offered succour and salvation to to people in need.

Writing in the forward to the bid book, Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb describes “people who have come from far and wide, often driven by poverty, as in most port cities.”

“Farmers from Zeeland and Brabant, Chinese dock workers, sailors from Cape Verde, Turkish and Moroccan migrant workers, Surinamese and Antillean compatriots, Syrian refugees: they all came to Rotterdam to find a better life.”

The bid book makes other culturally savvy points. It notes that all countries participating in the song contest are represented in the communities that live in Rotterdam. Anyone else getting Düsseldorf “Feel Your Heart Beat” vibes?

Benefiting all Rotterdammers

Flagging diversity is one thing. It’s another matter to leverage Eurovision to offer diverse communities access and new opportunities. But Rotterdam wants to make it happen. The city’s bid book emphasises that the song contest should offer social benefit for everyone — regardless of their socio-economic background.

“Rotterdam has a lot to offer, but the city also has a request for the organisation: to offer Rotterdammers who find it difficult to make ends meet an unforgettable experience, such as attending rehearsals or preliminary rounds.” This will not just be a two-week holiday for corporate sponsors. The city wants all people to encounter Eurovision and take something away.

In its application, the city explicitly asked the Eurovision Song Contest organisation to discuss this proposal.

Eurovision 2020 volunteers

The city also plans to extend volunteering opportunities to all residents.

“The Municipality of Rotterdam will work in association with the organisation to recruit motivated volunteers. From people who are disadvantaged on the labour market to people who have been fans of the Contest from the outset, students or proud Rotterdammers, there are a lot of people who will not want to miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, whether as city guides, ushers, bar staff or in any other role.”

Eurovision 2020 Events

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony is always one of our favourite events of Eurovision. Taking place on the Sunday before the grand final, it’s a night of glamour and celebration as acts walk down a red carpet — typically in a gorgeous locale — to the opening ceremony.

In Lisbon the red carpet was blue, nodding to water. In Tel Aviv it was orange, apparently nodding to the official sponsor MyHeritage. And in Rotterdam officials may have us going for gold.

That’s because the bid book suggested turning the iconic Erasmus Bridge into a catwalk for the red carpet event. They would create a “recycled gold carpet”, which would nod to the city’s innovation in this space. The bid book points out that Duncan Laurence’s Eurovision jacket was made from recycled linen.

As you’re walking to and from the gold carpet, you may encounter a Eurovision star…on the city’s trams! One proposal would see the trams promoting song contest artists using augmented reality.

Host city insignia and semi-final allocation draw

The host city insignia ceremony is when the mayor of the last host city officially passes the baton over to the next. Afterwards the new host city stages a draw to assign countries to the two semi-finals. Rotterdam already has its eyes on a venue. As the bid book explained:

“Rotterdam City Hall is the ideal location for hosting the City Insignia Exchange, Semi-Final Allocation Draw and Dinner for the Heads of Delegation. Rotterdam City Hall on Coolsingel was built between 1914 and 1920 in the ‘Beaux-Arts’ style. This impressive building, together with the adjacent post office, survived the bombardment on 14 May 1940, and occupies a special place in the heart of Rotterdammers.”

Rotterdam Bombardment

On May 14, 1940, the German air force destroyed almost all of Rotterdam’s historic city centre. It left 900 dead and around 85,000 others homeless. The devastation led the Dutch government to surrender the following morning.

This solemn day will coincide with the Second Semi-Final and the city is well-aware it must balance the celebrations of the song contest with the commemoration of this tragic anniversary.

“This requires some careful consideration, but also offers a great opportunity to link the commemoration to the Eurovision Song Contest, especially as it involves reflecting on the fact that we are now together, in this city, and can enjoy the Song Contest in freedom. A celebration that stands for connectedness, diversity, inclusiveness and solidarity. These are also core values in Rotterdam, shaped by this important piece of our city’s history.”

Location + free transport for press

The city’s location was a huge selling point and officials made much of its “central location and outstanding accessibility” in the bid book. This connectivity means that many nearby localities will also benefit from Eurovision tourism. The bid book explicitly lists travel times to other cities, including Breda (24 minutes), The Hague (24 minutes), Utrecht (37 minutes), and Amsterdam (40 minutes). The city is just 24 minutes from Amsterdam Schipol Airport.

And there’s good news for members of the press and other accredited visitors. They may get to travel around the city for free!

“Money has been reserved for the use of public transport by accredited persons. This has been organised based on the numbers in Stockholm. It is a topic to be discussed when concluding the agreement, when the municipality is keen to examine the actual demand.”

Ahoy

Andy Derbyshire, the head of production for the MTV EMAs in 2016, offered a quote supporting Rotterdam’s bid. It sums up many of the benefits associated with the Eurovision 2020 venue.

“If I could design the perfect venue for a global awards ceremony like the MTV EMA’s it would look remarkably like the Ahoy in Rotterdam. We visit a different city every year, and the Ahoy ticks more of our boxes than anywhere else. It has an arena with the height and capacity to handle the size and complexity of our stage design, adjacent exhibition halls to house more than 50 dressing rooms for our performers, space to cater for thousands of crew, and still have room to build a post event party for 2,000 guests. And that’s even before you consider the exterior plazas which are perfect for Red Carpet arrivals in front of hundreds of press & media. It’s a brilliant venue, run by brilliant people.”

The bid book says it has a maximum capacity of 16,426. It also points out that the arena is only 12 minutes away from central Rotterdam by metro.

The bid book defines Hall 2 of the arena as an area typically used as a press room. It can accommodate 750 journalists, though they’re able to expand this number if necessary.

Are you excited by Rotterdam’s vision for Eurovision 2020? Do you plan on volunteering? Let us know down below!