Music: The ESC week in Basel: parade, parties and concerts | blue News – bluewin E-Mail

SDA
7.5.2025 – 09:30
Basel is expecting up to 500,000 visitors for the week of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). An overview of what's going on in the Basel region from May 10 to 17.
Keystone-SDA
07.05.2025, 09:30
SDA
The ESC week officially kicks off on Sunday, May 11 with the opening ceremony at Basel City Hall. After a welcome speech to the 37 delegations, a huge turquoise carpet will be rolled out from the market square at 2.00 pm. The carpet will run for around 1.3 kilometers over the Mittlere Brücke bridge to the Eurovision Village at the exhibition grounds.
During a parade, vintage streetcars and buses will drive the delegations into Kleinbasel. There will also be a colorful accompaniment: Basel carnival cliques with drums and piccolos, Guggenmusik bands, alphorn players, dance groups, school classes and techno acts will parade through the city.
A week-long festival takes place in Hall 1 of Messe Basel. Public viewings, concerts and DJs are on the program. Remo Forrer, Anna Rossinelli and Luca Hänni will be performing, as will German musician Michael Schulte. On May 12, there will be a "Diversity Day" with Austrian ESC star Conchita Wurst.
There will also be a 90s evening with performances by Rednex and Snap. Entry to the Eurovision Village festival is free, but there will be admission controls.
Directly opposite, in the Messe event hall, admission is subject to a charge. Former ESC acts also perform in the Euro Club. Concerts and parties are held there until the early hours of the morning.
If you want to listen to something other than ESC music, Barfüsserplatz is the place to be. There are free concerts there every day from 16:00. Whether pop, jazz, classical, hip-hop or funk – each day is dedicated to a different genre. Names such as Schwellheim, Nicole Bernegger, Michael von der Heide, Brandhärd and La Nefera can be found on the program.
The boulevard runs from Basel SBB station to Badischer Bahnhof. This promenade connects several venues of the ESC accompanying program. It also includes a "Riviera" along the banks of the Rhine in Kleinbasel.
The Steinenvorstadt nightlife district will also become "Eurovision Street" with street music and decorations. Nearby, at the Theater Basel, a large open-air living room invites you to drink tea for free.
Just opposite the St. Jakobshalle, ESC fans can watch the final on large screens in the Arela Plus on May 17. Around 36,000 people are expected in the Joggeli football stadium. In addition to the live broadcast, there will be a show with DJ Antoine and former ESC acts Kate Ryan, Baby Lasagna, Luca Hänni and Anna Rossinelli.
An intellectual approach to the ESC will be made possible at the "Eurovisions International Conference" on May 13 and 14 at the University of Basel. It is dedicated to the topic of justice in music. For example, how geopolitics and cultural prejudices influence the evaluation mechanisms. Or the question of who is heard in the music industry and who remains in the shadows. However, the conference is not intended to be a "lecture marathon with elitist jargon", as the organizers write, and should be open to everyone.
An ESC festival will also be held in Weil am Rhein, Basel's neighboring town in southern Baden. On May 14, the first German ESC winner Nicole will be performing at the Haus der Volksbildung. She won the competition in 1982 at the age of 17 with the song "Ein bisschen Frieden".
During the ESC week, the walk-in sound installation "Lightning Symphony" by artist Claudia Comte will be on the Messeplatz. It is a 52 meter long, inflatable sculpture. The Fondation Beyeler in Riehen is showing a colorful cross-section of its collection under the motto "Over the Rainbow". In keeping with the theme, the rainbow light sculpture "we are poems" by Ugo Rondinone is enthroned on the museum roof.
The Natural History Museum even has a unicorn on display, while the Barfüsserkirche shows memorabilia collected by ESC fans. The performance group "Boys* In Sync" will also be performing in the Kaserne on May 9 and 10, providing a political take on the ESC.

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