OGAE Sweden organizes for the 4th consecutive year a weekend full of activities to celebrate the final of its selection process for Eurovision, we speak of the Melodifestivalen of course, the televised contest or, as some Eurofans know it, the little Eurovision. Find out in this article about the parties, their prices and the related events that the organization is preparing for the next weekend (March 9-11). Go ahead, you can’t miss it!
This is how the organizing team defines the scheduled events:
We are happy to once again welcome fans from all over the world to our parties during the Melodifestivalen weekend. With carefully curated artists and highlights from this years Eurovision entries we are both a national party as well as the first Pre-ESC party in the season. Three days of shows and parties is the highlight of the year for so many fans coming to Stockholm.
Alexander Borodin, Project Manager del Melfest WKND 2023
Apart from having the collaboration, one more year, of the mythical nightclub in the center of Stockholm, Nalen. This year, OGAE Sweden is proud to cooperate with Pink Pig Productions for the production of the event and the Scandic Grand Central Hotel, where part of the programmed activities will take place. Additionally, OGAE Sweden has organized a lunch event on Friday March 10 for all international OGAE members already in town at The Old Brewer gastropub (Luntmakargatan 98, Stockholm) starting at 12:45.
Warm-up Mingle Party (Thursday, March 9, 7-11 PM)
For the first time since the creation of the Melfest WKND, OGAE Sweden has organized this year a night of what they called the warm-up night for all those Melodifestivalen and Eurovision fans who are already on the streets of Stockholm on Thursday, March 9. The event, with free admission, which will take place at the Scandic Grand Central Hotel, in its Acoustic Bar, will feature a conference/discussion on Eurovision and a contest/quiz (both in English). On this first night, the organization intends to bring together all the fans and friends to spend a relaxing evening having a few drinks accompanied by music and meeting new friends while talking about what they like the most, the Eurovision Song Contest and the Swedish pre-selection.
Pre-party: Friday, March 10 from 10:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.
The first of the two big parties that are organized during the weekend of the Melodifestivalen final. The one already considered by many eurofans classic Stockholm pre-party. The hostess of this year will be the Swedish Drag Queen Reine, who will liven up the evening with her touch of Swedish humor and two more guests. The party will take place in the Nalen nightclub (Regeringsgatan 74, Stockholm). The artists confirmed so far that will perform that night are the following:
- Shirley Clamp (Melodifestivalen participant in 2003-05, 2009, 2011-14 and 2022)
- Senhit (representative of San Marino in Eurovision 2011, 2020 and 2021)
- Luke Black (representative of Serbia in Eurovision 2023)
- Anna Bergendahl (representative of Sweden in Eurovision 2010 and Melodifestivalen participant in 2019, 2020 and 2022)
- Reiley (representative of Denmark in Eurovision 2023)
- Blanka (representative of Poland in Eurovision 2023)
Once all the performances are over, the party continues until 3:00 a.m. with two fantastic local DJs: DJ Carro and DJ Ronny Larsson, who will play their music sessions of the greatest hits from the Melodifestivalen and the Eurovision Song Contest in two separate dance floors both nights. And, as if that were not enough, during the night we will also have a bit of a drag show by Drag Queen Reine.
If you also want to have a more direct contact with the artists and get closer and chat with them, take photos and enjoy early access to the first of the big weekend parties (1 hour before the club opens, getting ahead of the queues), you can purchase a VIP ticket that includes all of the above at a price of 630 SEK / 56.5 EUR here (very low availability).
Main party: Saturday, March 11 from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.
After enjoying the night show on the Swedish channel SVT1, or live on the Friends Arena, the main party that is organized during the weekend starts. The hostess of the evening will be once again the Swedish Drag Queen Reine, who will liven up the night with her touch of Swedish humor and some other surprises. OGAE Sweden always has an ace up its sleeve and on another occasion has surprised with the appearance of great artists who were not confirmed, as in the last edition with The Mamas (Sweden 2020). The main party will also take place in the Nalen nightclub (Regeringsgatan 74, Stockholm). The artists that for now are confirmed and that will perform that night are the following:
- Klara Hammarström (Melodifestivalen participant in 2020-2022)
- Kurt Calleja (Malta’s representative at Eurovision 2012)
- Filip Baloš (Pesma za Evroviziju 2023 finalist)
- Alessandra (Norwegian representative at Eurovision 2023)
- Claudia Faniello (Malta’s representative at Eurovision 2017)
- Jann (finalist of the Polish national final in 2023)
Once all the performances are over, the party continues non-stop this time until 4:00 AM by DJ Panica TAX and DJ Orhmeister, who will play the greatest hits from the Melodifestivalen and the Eurovision Song Contest in each of the 2 rooms available after the main concert. And, as if that were not enough, during the course of the night we will also have a drag show inspired by Eurovision by the invited Drag Queens Brenda Mandlar and Miss Tobi!
How was the Melfest WKND ’22?
In the last edition of the Melfest WKND we were able to enjoy Eurovision stars such as Malik Harris (Germany 2022), Stefan (Estonia 2022), Aidan (MESC 2022), Sahlene (Estonia 2002 and Eesti Laul 2022) and Vladana (Montenegro 2022), and legends from Melodifestivalen as Anton Ewald (Melfest 2013, 2014 and 2022), Nanne Grönvall, Magnus Carlsson, or the fan-loved Dotter (Melfest 2018, 2020 and 2021).
If you are in Stockholm next weekend and you are still wondering whether or not to attend the different events shown here, we want to show you how much fun we had in previous editions in this summary published by the organization: