The preparations for Eurovision 2019 are in full swing, as we already have the host city, the dates, the slogan, the participating countries, plans for The Eurovision Village and a designer for the stage. And soon we’ll have the hosts). But most of you are probably more nervous, yet excited, about getting tickets for the shows. Those tickets should be available in just a few weeks, as KAN has recently published a new tender for the ticketing company of the contest. This process decides on the ticketing agent and company that will handle the process of sales. No exact numbers were mentioned in the tender, but here’s some interesting information for you in advance as you dare to dream of getting tickets.

As y’all know by now, The Expo Tel Aviv (International Convention Center), which will host the live shows of Eurovision 2019, is one of the smaller arenas to host Eurovision in this century. So far fewer tickets will be available this year. But the Israeli production team are doing their best to allow as many fans to join the party as possible. We should all remember that Eurovision is primarily a television event. Broadcasting it from a smaller venue won’t affect the ability of millions of viewers to watch the broadcast, but we know how upsetting and stressful it can be for fans who try to get tickets….and fail.

The Israeli media has previously reported an initial estimate that only about 4,000 tickets would be made available for the public out of a total of 7,000 seats for each show in the arena. The other 3,000 tickets will be allocated to the various delegations and EBU representatives. It was also reported that in addition to those tickets, about 2,000 to 3,000 tickets will be available in The Green Room that will be located in the pavilion right next to the arena.

Accoring to KAN’s tender, tickets in the arena will be offered for the live shows of Eurovision 2019: The Grand Final and the two semifinals, as well as two general rehearsals for each of the events (a.k.a. Jury rehearsal and family rehearsal). Additional tickets for The Green Room for all of those nine shows will go on sale as well.

Ticket types and sales waves

The tender will be closed on November 25 and then the decision process will begin. KAN is planning on starting the first wave of ticket sales at the beginning of December (but this is only an estimated date and we can estimate that it might take a bit more time to organise in time, so late December seems more logical). Two additional waves of ticket sales are planned for February and April.

The tickets will be classified into four main categories:

Free reserved tickets (paper tickets) that will be given by KAN to different entities (Delegations, Eurovision 2019 partners, EBU guests, production members, etc.) Reserved tickets (paper tickets) that will be sold and given by KAN to different entities. Packages – a number of tickets (electronic tickets) for various events that will be sold together in one package at a reduced price (we guess those are for OGAE members that get special ticket bundles every year for 6 shows for a price of about 450 euros). Public tickets (electronic tickets) – The tickets will be available for purchase online with credit cards or PayPal.

For each event, tickets will be sold at several price levels, depending on the location and type of purchased ticket. No prices were mentioned in the tender, but according to previous years, tickets are usually priced at various levels between €30 and €300.

In previous years, OGAE fan clubs have offered members ticket packages. However, there is speculation that due to the reduction in available seats, the number of OGAE packages may be vastly reduced. For Lisbon, 1,700 OGAE ticket packages were available to fans, but the year before only 900 were available due to the much smaller Kyiv venue.

KAN emphasizes that the tickets company’s website will have to be stable and secure in accordance with the highest standards and rules of the Eurovision Song Contest. The website will have to handle a traffic stability of approximately 200,000 users at a given point in time, and about 200 buyers will be able to make simultaneous purchases (through random queue management technology). An automated system to control and manage ticket allocation will be used, according to the buyer’s location in the world.

KAN mentioned that there is utmost importance in the continuous availability of a site and that it must be available at any time, and avoid crashing due to unusual loads or cyber attacks. The ticket company will face a high fine of about 12,000 Euros for each crash and other fines in case the problem won’t be solved immediately, so we can expect minimum problems while trying to get our tickets.

The ticketing company will also provide a dedicated international telephone customer service center which will provide a response (providing information and technical support) in Hebrew and English languages.

According to the EBU requirements, KAN is required to offer to purchasers from outside of Israel at least one-third of the tickets that are offered to the public. If some tickets will be left a week before each event, those tickets will then also be available to purchasers from Israel.

Eurovision shows schedule (Israel time)

Semi-Final 1 Jury show 13 May 22:00

Semi-Final 1 Family show 14 May 16:00

Semi-Final 1 Live show 14 May 22:00

Semi-Final 2 Jury show 15 May 22:00

Semi-Final 2 Family show 16 May 16:00

Semi-Final 2 Live show 16 May 22:00

Jury Final 17 May 22:00

Grand Final Family Show 18 May 14:30

Grand Final Live show 18 May 22:00

But what if we won’t get tickets?

So what does a Eurovision fan do if they have travelled all the way to Tel Aviv but can’t get tickets to watch the live song contest shows?

If the semi-finals and grand final sell out, there’s still the possibility of the jury rehearsal or the family show. Both will allow fans to experience full dress rehearsals — just without the voting.

This year you can also have tickets for The Green Room — sitting close to the artists to share their emotions could be quite an experience that the people in the arena won’t get to have, so it could be a great option.

Another possibility is the Eurovillage. The Eurovillage will offer a live screening of the semi-finals and grand final. Fans can gather with other like-minded folk and enjoy the show amongst the festival atmosphere of the Eurovillage.

Are you planning on buying tickets for the shows? Let us know in the comments section below.