Sweden: How will Malmö’s budget of 30 million Swedish crowns be used for Eurovision?
A bit more than six months have passed since SVT revealed that Malmö will be the host city for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, on July 7.
There will be televised semi-finals on 7 and 9 May. On Saturday 11 May, the final will be broadcast all over the world from Malmö Arena.
This week, Malmö‘s top politicians hammered out how Malmö‘s taxpayers’ money should be used around the giant event. The Chair of the Municipal Executive Board Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh said on the matter:
“A completely unanimous municipal executive board supported the distribution. Much of the work will be done out in the committees and therefore we set aside money there.”
Already last autumn, in last year’s budget, agreements were signed for around SEK 10 million – including with Malmö Arena, Malmömässan and Malmö Live.
The rest of the money that is supposed to be used for the music festival was invested by the municipal board this week:
- The Technical Committee will receive SEK 6.6 million for the work on Eurovision Park and Eurovillage at Folkets Park.
- The Culture Committee will receive SEK 1.8 million for its work on programmes and communication.
- The Recreation Committee will receive SEK 3.3 million for the work with 600 unpaid volunteers and for city decoration, such as flags and banners that will fill Malmö.
- The Municipal Executive Board is also allocating SEK 6.3 million to a wide range of general extra costs linked to the giant event.
Despite galloping inflation, this year’s Eurovision Song Contest will not be more expensive for Malmö‘s taxpayers than the contests ten years ago says the city of Malmö‘s project manager Karin Karlsson:
“More people are contributing content than they did ten years ago. We are trying to work with the business community in a much more comprehensive way than we did then.”
Already in a couple of weeks, on January 30, Farah Abadi and Pernilla Månsson Colt will lead the draw for places in the two semi-finals. At the same time, the world is under pressure from major international conflicts, such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Shortly after the announcement that Malmö will be the host of the Eurovision Song Contest, the Swedish Security Service raised the terrorist threat level in Sweden. On 1 November, a total bag ban was introduced at major events. It is still unclear what additional and stricter security measures may be required ahead of the giant competition in Malmö. But politicians know that it could lead to new costs for the city. Karin comments:
“As far as security is concerned, we are waiting for information from the police. This will have consequences for the centre of Malmö as a whole. We are already working preventively by trying to choose places with perimeter protection and places we are used to working with.”
“In the first instance, public transport will be offered.” says the municipal board’s decision document. One can assume that this will be offered to the volunteers and press that are attending to work on the contest. But would that also mean that the artists will also travel by bus or train to the competition arena in Hyllie? Karin Karlsson responds:
“No, that’s where the line is drawn. We have a special responsibility to ensure that they arrive on time. The participants will travel in rented buses or electric cars. It’s Malmö’s advantage that we have such good public transport. It’s also a way to save money. We want the whole event to be used by public transport.”
Source: Sydsvenskan
Photo: Martin Meissner
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