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Save the dates: Your invite to Eurovision pre-party season

23 March 2023 at 09:45 CET
Romania's WRS will be saying "hola, mi bebébé" in Barcelona
With Eurovision pre-parties starting across Europe right about now, we've got your guide to what's going on, and what it's all about.

"It's crazy. It's pre-party"... Is what we imagine Finland's Käärijä might say when shown the inviting schedule of Eurovision parties taking place across Europe over the coming weeks.

With national final season over and with the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest not yet upon us in all its glory, there's another block of weeks that's now become a mainstay on the Eurovision calendar - and that's the annual pre-party season!

The roster of cities hosting large-scale Eurovision events around March and April has been rising in recent years, due to the ever-growing popularity of the fabulous fiestas. 

And what exactly is a Eurovision pre-party? For the uninitiated, it's an event - usually organised by fans - in which a plethora of Eurovision performers are invited to entertain an enthusiastic crowd of Contest-loving revellers.

Masses of Eurovision fans descend upon the parties to mingle, to make predictions about the forthcoming Contest, and to watch an impressive selection of artists take to the stage to perform their beloved Eurovision Song Contest hits. These performers are usually a mix of participants from that year's Contest, and also fan favourites from previous years.

In 2023, we have 6 major pre-parties that are happening across Europe: Barcelona, Warsaw, Tel Aviv, Madrid, Amsterdam and London. If you fancy some Eurovision escapism before the Contest in May, we've got the lowdown on each:

Barcelona

Kicking things off in somewhat spectacular style, the BCN Eurovision Party is ensuring we Bailar Pegados across no less than 3 nights. 

On Thursday 23 March, the appetiser is a club night at the Sala Arena, to get everyone suitably pump-pumped for the weekend ahead. Then on the Friday it's the 'Euroqueens' night, featuring Spain's Barei, Albania's Ronela, Romania's WRS and Azerbaijan's Efendi, as well as a number of artists who competed in the 2023 edition of Spain's pre-selection Benidorm Fest.

On Saturday night's main event, they have at least 14 artists from the 67th Eurovision Song Contest appearing, plus a carefully curated lineup of fan faves from yesteryear.

For all info on the lineup and tickets, you can visit their website

Warsaw

On Saturday 1 April, we have the inaugural outing of the Polish Eurovision Party.

At the Praga Centrum in Poland's capital, our new hosts have put together a night of entertainment that will include around a dozen or so of our Class of '23, plus a varied collection of former Eurovision Song Contest participants, national final favourites, plus Poland's Junior Eurovision Song Contest winner, Viki Gabor.

If you're going along for The Ride, your hosts for the night will be twice-participant for Bulgaria at the Contest, Poli Genova, plus Konrad Zemlik.

The full 411 on what they have in store for us can be found on their website.

Tel Aviv

No sooner have we said 'do widzenia' to Poland, we'll be saying 'shalom' to Israel!

On Monday 3 April, at Hangar 11 in Tel Aviv Port, the latest edition of Israel Calling is calling you to Israel. Rather excitingly for Eurovision fans, the show will be hosted by Dafna Dekel and Sigal Shachmon, who hosted the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest in Jerusalem, following Dana International's victory the year before.

This year's Israel Calling will incorporate a celebratory theme. Marking 50 years since Israel first participated at the Eurovision Song Contest, the event promises to be an unmissable one for all Divas and Golden Boys who are proudly #UnitedByMusic.

The lineup for the show will be gradually revealed over the next few days, via the event's Facebook and Instagram. The event organisers will also be revealing how fans can tune in to a live stream of the main concert, if they aren't able to attend in person.

Madrid

During the weekend of 7 and 8 April, the Spanish will once again be encouraging us to 'vamos a la fiesta', as PrePartyES shakes its booty hypnotic in Madrid. 

On both the Friday and the Saturday, PrePartyES is offering up big-scale concerts and even larger-scale after parties at the La Riviera in the country's capital city, which will no doubt be making attendees Say Yay! with quite some frequency throughout both nights.

The acts of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will be the main focus at Saturday night's concert, with 20 of Liverpool's artists scheduled to perform so far. While on the Friday, we'll be given more of a Spanish vibe, with this year's Contest participant for Spain, Blanca Paloma, being reunited with 13 of her Benidorm Fest 2023 competitors. 

All information can be found on the PrePartyES website

Amsterdam

One week later on Saturday 15 April, it's the Netherlands' turn to host Eurovision fans and artists, as Eurovision In Concert makes its return to the Dutch capital. 

Amsterdam's AFAS Live (the same location where the 2012 Junior Eurovision Song Contest was held) will be welcoming at least 20 of our 2023 artists before they head to Liverpool, with more names expected to be confirmed soon, too.

If you're landing in Amsterdam early, you can squeeze in One More Night. The city will also be hosting Amsterdam Calling on the Friday, with lots of past Eurovision Song Contest classics being performed live on stage by the likes of Nuša Derenda, Ott Lepland, Senhit, The Roop and many more.

For the full programme announced thus far, you can peruse their page!

London

One day on from the Amsterdam event, on Sunday 16 April, and it's London's turn to utter those 4 words so beloved by Eurovision fans: Wir Geben 'Ne Party!

The 2,000-capacity venue, HERE at Outernet, just off Charing Cross Road right in the centre of the British capital, will host the 2023 edition of London Eurovision Party.

So far, 17 of our Liverpool lineup have been confirmed to be attending, with the United Kingdom's own Mae Muller headlining. But more names are expected to be announced in the weeks leading up to the big event, as well as some special guest appearances, too.

If you're thinking That Sounds Good To Me, you can find out more info over on the London Eurovision Party website

You can listen to all 37 songs of Eurovision 2024 via your favourite streaming service or watch the music videos on our YouTube channel.

The Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Malmö, Sweden on Tuesday 7 May (First Semi-Final), Thursday 9 May (Second Semi-Final) and Saturday 11 May (Grand Final) 2024.

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