Basel votes yes to funding song contest

Voters in the northwestern Swiss city of Basel backed nearly $40 million (€38 million) in public funding on Sunday to host the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest. 

Preliminary results from Sunday’s referendum show that 66.4% of voters in the city supported using taxpayer money for the event. 

Eurovision funding ensures full spectacle 

With the funding approved, the annual TV spectacle will proceed with its full traditional flair. Had the money not been granted, Eurovision 2025 would have been scaled back to only the main show, without any public events beyond the main show.

The money will be put into programs accompanying the main event, and finance accommodation and expanded public transportation for attendees, among other initiatives.

Eurovision is an opportunity for Basel, the home of pharma giants Novartis and Roche, to showcase its cultural attractions such as art museums.

Based on the last two contests in Liverpool and Malmo, Basel hopes to make about 60 million Swiss francs (€64 million, $67 million) from the event.

Swiss conservatives against funding say ESC promotes propaganda

If the money were rejected, the Eurovision side-events in Basel would have been axed. 

Public funding for Eurovision 2025 was put to a referendum after the national-conservative Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland (EDU) had gathered enough signatures. The minor political party, which promotes Biblical values, has criticized taxpayer money for an event which it sees as promoting antisemitism and occultism.      

Some voters expressed concerns about traffic disruptions and the financial burden on taxpayers in general.

Switzerland will host next year’s Eurovision after Swiss singer-rapper Nemo won the 2024 event with the song “The Code.”  Nemo was the first non-binary artist in history to win the award. 

wd/lo (AFP, dpa)