Newcastle Times Square to celebrate Eurovision with an official party

Eurovision 2023 is almost here! All 37 songs, countries and artists have been confirmed and fans of the competition are incredibly excited for the semi finals and of course, the grand final - all of which will be held in May.

This year, Eurovision will be hosted in the UK, in Liverpool’s Liverpool Arena. Although Ukraine won Eurovision 2022 (Kalush Orchestra with Stefania), due to the ongoing conflict, the UK (who came second place courtesy of Sam Ryder with Space Man) have stepped in to host.

As excitement builds, Eurovision parties across the UK are being announced - including a ‘Eurovision extravaganza’ at Times Square in Newcastle.

For the grand final on Saturday, May 13 - Times Square will be hosting a special Eurovision party which includes live music, DJs and special guest appearances from 4pm.

At around 8pm, the Eurovision final will then be broadcast on a big screen for the Newcastle crowd to enjoy after a special Eurovision-themed episode of BBC One’s The One Show.

Last year, Newcastle made the shortlist to host the international event on behalf of Ukraine but missed out to Liverpool. However, Newcastle has been chosen among only a handful of cities in the UK to host an official Eurovision party.

The party will be hosted by Newcastle City Council in partnership with the BBC and the European Broadcasting Union.

Michelle Percy, Director for Place at Newcastle City Council, said: “Eurovision is one of the biggest television events of the year and there is a real buzz with the contest being held in the UK this year.

“We were thrilled to have made the shortlist to host the event and although we weren’t successful, we couldn’t have been prouder of residents, businesses and communities for coming together to get behind our campaign.

“During the bidding process we made fantastic links with the Ukrainian community and we have been immensely proud to see Newcastle give a big Geordie welcome to those who fled their home country to make a fresh start in our city.

“The Eurovision Song Contest party is set to be an amazing event and we look forward to putting on a great show for our residents and Ukrainians living in our city.”

Tickets for the Eurovision party are priced at £5, with a proportion of free tickets being given to Ukrainian residents who live in the city. To book a ticket, please visit here.

Times Square will also broadcast the Eurovision semi-finals on Tuesday, May 9 and Thursday, May 11 for 8pm. These will be free events.

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