The organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 are not ruling out that we’re getting an edition with live audience in Ahoy in Rotterdam. Today spokespeople from the organising team shared this with ANP (the largest news agency in The Netherlands).
The contest will take place anyhow, with three live shows and possibly adjusted events in the city of Rotterdam. To make this possible there is a tight co-operation between the organisers, the municipality of Rotterdam and Fieldlab Evenementen (who are regularly running tests, to see if and how events with audience can be organised in a healthy and responsible way).
The spokesperson stated:
The Eurovision Song Contest is a valuable opportunity for the events industry to gain even more insight into how to safely organize events in the coming months. That is also in line with Het Nationaal Evenementen Plan (English: the National Event Plan), in which the Eurovision Song Contest is an intermediate step.
Executive Producer of Eurovision 2021, Sietse Bakker, has elaborated on the statements:
Met toegangstesten (en zonder avondklok) zou het Eurovisie Songfestival 2021 mét publiek in @rotterdamahoy mogelijk moeten zijn. Zou een fantastisch #OpenUp moment zijn voor Nederland, terwijl 180 miljoen mensen kijken. #fingerscrossed https://t.co/ET6OsNomwa
— Sietse Bakker (@SietseBakker) March 23, 2021
(Translation: With admission tests (and without a curfew), a Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with an audience in @rotterdamahoy should be possible. Would be a fantastic #OpenUp moment for The Netherlands, while 180 million people are watching. #fingerscrossed)
The organisers hope to be able to give more news in the coming weeks.
