The first-ever Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) was hosted in Lugano, Switzerland, in 1956. The yodelling-loving country hosted again in 1989, after gay icon Céline Dion (a Canadian designated hitter who was, because the rules are quirky, representing Switzerland) won the previous year with her rendition of “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi.”
Known for its campy over-the-top performances, over-excited hosts, occasional shirtlessness and songs with lyrics about empowerment, peace and love, ESC has attracted an intense gay following during its history, and many fans who attend the annual competition do so with the intensity they’d bring to a Pride week.
The 2024 winner was Swiss nonbinary singer-rapper Nemo for their song “The Code,” making it likely that the 2025 festivities will be the queerest in a decade, a benchmark set when bearded Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst won in 2014. Of course, the queer history goes back even further—and we’re not just talking about Céline. Trans Israeli pop singer Dana International won in 1998 with the song “Diva.”
With Nemo’s win, Switzerland is hosting ESC for the third time. For this edition, the city of Basel will be the epicentre of all things Eurovision from May 13 to 17, 2025. It’s a very powerful spotlight. When Liverpool hosted ESC in 2023, an estimated 473,000 people attended; ESC 2024 in Malmö attracted about 160,000 visitors to the Swedish city.
A city of about 174,000 people on the Rhine River, bordering both Germany and France, Basel is known as Switzerland’s main city of culture, perhaps most famous as the home of Art Basel, a huge visual arts festival (next happening June 19 to 22, 2025).
Queer ESC fanatics should be making up a visiblel chunk of the 12,400 attendees each night who will crowd into St. Jakobshalle Basel (St. Jakobs-Strasse 390, Basel) to watch the nine shows, including the grand finale, which is broadcast live. That week, queers will also haunt the Eurovision Village at Messe Basel (Messepl. 10, Basel) where they can enjoy food, drinks and idle speculation while watching the performances on screens. Or perhaps they’ll be cheering on their favourite acts from bars and clubs all over Basel.
But what else is there to do in Basel between rooting for Latvia and Moldova and booing the United Kingdom, which, in the last few years, has performed quite poorly?
Pink Ticket Travel talked to journalist and moderator Josia Jourdan about all that Basel has to offer visitors. Born and raised in a suburb of Basel, he’s been writing online about books since he was 12, working at a newspaper since he was 14 and writing about queer culture since he was 17. Now 22 and living part time in Berlin, he creates a lot of content, including queer educational content for the Swiss health department. Jourdan knows the ins and outs of Switzerland’s third-largest city.
You did an interview with Nemo just before they won Eurovision last year with their song “The Code.” You were ahead of the curve.
I was super happy for Nemo because they’re such a sweetheart. They got famous as a Swiss rapper, then made the transition to being international by doing crazy hyperpop-inspired sounds. Probably everybody in Switzerland under 30 knows songs from Nemo, from back before they even came out, but I was happy they got more international reach. They deserve this recognition and to get this level of visibility for who they are now and where their whole journey is going. I wasn’t sure Europe was ready for it because it’s very queer. But I’m also happy for the queer community in Switzerland because it’s an amazing opportunity to talk about queer topics in the media. When Nemo won, family members of mine were hearing terms like “nonbinary” for the first time and thinking about it on a deeper level. So yeah, Nemo’s win was definitely a proud moment.
How excited are you—and how excited is the city—about Basel hosting the Eurovision Song Contest?
I’m not a hardcore fan, but I’m always interested in what’s happening, which artists are performing for which country. I love public viewings—sitting with friends gathered together, making predictions as to who’s going to win or not. I have friends who will prepare themselves, know all the songs before the show, so they know exactly what’s coming up. I’m more the person who watches to be surprised by what they’ve put together, which countries are very visible and which ones are sending the same boring people every year. I really understood what it was about when Conchita Wurst won back in 2014—there was a lot of media back then talking about her identity. That’s when I realized, “Oh, it’s a queer event.”
I think a lot of people in the city are very excited about such a big event happening here. It’s going to bring in a lot of different people, and there will be lots of events happening. I’ve heard of people being scared about the number of people who are expected to come. We’re used to Art Basel, which is not so big and has a more mature crowd, not this number of strangers from around the world. People are asking, are we all going to have to hide in our apartments?
What’s LGBTQ+ life like in Basel?
It gets complicated because Basel is a pretty left and diverse city, but we don’t have a huge queer culture. A lot of queer venues have closed, but honestly, lots of bars are very queer friendly. There are a lot of events, mostly around the Kaserne area around the Kaserne Basel cultural centre (Klybeckstrasse 1b, Basel, Switzerland). Every Tuesday at the centre’s KaBAR, they have the Zischbar, hosted by the advocacy group habs queer basel. [You can check out many of the events happening in the city at the website GayBasel.]
Baragraph (Kohlenberg 10, Basel) is a sweet bar that’s very LGBTQ+ friendly. Most of the staff are queer. I’m pretty sure they will come up with good promotions for Eurovision.
Borderline (Hagenaustrasse 29, Basel) is a good nightclub that’s more industrial. It’s a bit darker, a big venue. They regularly host queer kinky parties called #hrdr.
Heimat (Erlenstrasse 59, Basel) hosts a lot of queer events, including 1980s and ’90s parties and drag shows. It’s a cute venue, not huge. One dancefloor and a nice chill-out area. The crowd really depends on the night.
Aside from nightlife, Schützenmattpark (Im Schützenmattpark 1, Basel) is a nice place to chill. They have big grassy areas where you can sit. I know that at night there’s cruising there. St. Johanns-Park (Elsässerstrasse 34, Basel) is a nice spot where queer people hang out on the river.
Of course, we’ve also got the Gay Mega Store (Laufenstr. 19, Basel), which is quite fun because it’s this very old European-style gay store, the biggest in Switzerland, with a large variety of stuff: underwear, Pride flags, sex toys, videos, books, photo books, postcards, magazines.
And what else should Eurovision fans do while they’re in Basel?
Having a good stroll around the old town and a walk along the river is one of the best things you can do to get a feeling for the city. The old town is very beautiful. In the old port area, you can see the ships going by, and there are a lot of alternative bars and cafés. It’s cute in the spring, sitting by the river, having something to eat or drink.
Museums are also a big recommendation—Basel has so many amazing museums.
I love the art museum Kunsthaus Baselland (Helsinki-Strasse 5, Münchenstein), especially their new building, which just opened in 2024. They have a lot of special exhibitions and a good mix of classical and contemporary art. There’s also Kunsthalle Basel (Steinenberg 7, Basel), which is more about contemporary art. They often focus on diversity or feature artists that have a different worldview or identity, which I love a lot. Fondation Beyeler (Baselstrasse 101, Riehen) is a modern and contemporary art museum that a lot of people visit when they are here. It’s a beautiful area, with beautiful gardens. It can get quite crowded sometimes, so maybe go on more chill days during the week.
We also have some small museums that focus on history. Cartoonmuseum Basel (St. Alban-Vorstadt 28, Basel) is really cool. One of my personal favourites is Basler Papiermühle (St. Alban-Tal 37, Basel), which is a museum dedicated to paper and how they make it. It’s very interactive, so you get insight into an old craft.
What restaurants do you recommend to first-timers?
Visitors love Walliser Kanne (Gerbergasse 50, Basel), which serves traditional Swiss food. The décor is dark wood, very traditional. A lot of locals’ favourite place is Markthalle Basel (Steinentorberg 20, Basel), which is a concept restaurant hall where you have, I think, more than 30 different kitchens in a huge hall, so everyone can get what they want and sit together. There’s African food, Taiwanese, Italian. It’s great for finding a compromise when you’re with a group of people.
If I’m in Basel and finding Eurovision just too much, what’s a quick getaway?
Cities like Bern, Zurich or even Lucerne are just an hour away by train. Bern and Lucerne are especially nice, with beautiful landscapes. There’s a spa, Aquabasilea (Hardstrasse 57, Pratteln), which is really close to Basel. It’s a beautiful, relaxing place for anyone who wants to unwind. It’s great for when the weather isn’t good.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
