Host cities and dates for Melodifestivalen 2018 revealed!

26 September 2017 at 11:33 CEST

Sweden second reheaesal Thomas Hanses

Melodifestivalen, the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, is one of the biggest programmes of the year in Sweden. Planning for the 2018 competition is well underway and today broadcaster SVT revealed the cities and dates for each of the live shows.

Melodifestivalen 2018 will begin in February and the final, as customary, will take place in Stockholm in March.

Melodifestivalen 2018 dates and venues

Heat #1: Karlstad, Saturday 3rd February
Heat #2: Gothenburg, Saturday 10th February
Heat #3: Malmö, Saturday 17th February
Heat #4: Örnsköldsvik, Saturday 24th February
Second chance round: Kristianstad, Saturday 3rd March
Final: Stockholm, Saturday 10th March.

It is the first time that Kristianstad has hosted a Melodifestivalen heat. The Malmö Arena and Gothenburg's Scandinavium both hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013 and 1985 respectively.

Who will participate in 2018?

In total 2771 songs have been submitted for Melodifestivalen 2018, the highest number of songs since 2012. Producer Christer Björkman said: "We are very keen to start working with the selection process and are delighted that the interest from both the public and the music industry is still high." One of the artists for 2018 has already been chosen. Stiko Per Larsson won a place in Melodifestivalen after competiing in the radion contest P4 Nästa.

Sweden is one of the most successful countries in the Eurovision Song Contest and has finished in the top five in six out of the last seven Grand Finals. Check out their top ten entries below!