Birmingham has enjoyed a feast of entertainment and a huge influx of international visitors recently as it hosted the 2022 Commonwealth Games, but while that party may be over, another one may be on the way – Eurovision.
Next year, instead of gold medals and songs by the likes of Duran Duran and Ozzy Osbourne, the city could be playing host to all kinds of weird and wonderful musical acts from around Europe – plus Australia, who may be a little less likely to finish top of that leaderboard.
Birmingham is one of seven shortlisted candidate cities vying to host the event, alongside Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.
While catering outlets across the city will have been busy this summer, there may be a need for them to get even more cream chargers in Birmingham, ready to provide confectionaries for thousands of European visitors.
No doubt many of these tasty treats will be Ukrainian themed, in recognition of the fact that the 2022 winners will not be able to host the event due to the war, but will have their victory and their nation’s culture honoured and highlighted by the 2023 edition.
If the Birmingham bid is successful, it will take place at Birmingham Resorts World, which is close to the airport, served by a railway station and the national motorway network.
While people will be able to get there swiftly from distant places, many others will enjoy spending time in Birmingham itself, not least after getting a sense of the great vibe around the city during the Games.
Birmingham is the only one of the seven cities to have hosted the event before, having done so in 1998 in the wake of Catriona and the Waves winning with Love Shine a Light in 1997. Having come second last year with Sam Ryder’s Spaceman song to put the country in position to step into Ukraine’s shoes, Britain will be hoping that it can go one better on home soil next year.