Sweden’s ‘Eurovision village’ stage sparks Wonka experience comparisons

In addition to the Eurovision Song Contest taking place in Sweden’s Malmö Arena next month, fans of the musical event can watch free live performances at a site known as the ‘Eurovision Village’ - but this year’s staging in Folkets Park has left many people unimpressed.

Construction is underway on the site, which will boast stages named after ABBA’s hit “Dancing Queen”, and tracks “Euphoria” and “Tattoo” by Loreen which won the contest for Eurovision in 2012 and 2023 respectively.

Though it’s the Euphoria stage which has sparked ridicule from fans, as the largest stage in the park is still a lot smaller than the main stage used last year, when the contest was held in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine.

Famous faces taking to this specific stage across the week of activities - kicking off next Saturday - include “Show Me Love” singer Robin S, last year’s runner up Käärijä from Finland, and 2014 winner Conchita Wurst from Austria.

“Eurovision Village will be a central location for the festivities during the week of the contest and a place where fans, Malmö residents and other visitors can meet … This is where the action is,” Malmö’s official website reads.

Video footage of the Euphoria stage’s underwhelming design was shared by Instagram page Malmotown on Monday, with the presenter also revealing that Euphoria isn’t even the smallest stage – that’s the Tattoo stage.

And unfortunately for Sweden, Eurovision fans have been pretty brutal in comparing the situation to that of the infamous Willy Wonka Experience in Glasgow which made headlines earlier this year:

The grand final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest takes place on 11 May, with former Years and Years frontman Olly Alexander representing the UK with his track, “Dizzy”.

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