The Danish capital Copenhagen hosted the 59th Eurovision Song Contest in May this year. Almost three months after the huge spectacle, it becomes more and more evident that the event was by far more expensive than expected. Originally, the budget was defined as 4.6 million euros by the city of Copenhagen. Now it has become apparent that instead as many as 15 million euros were spent.
Why was the budget exceeded in such a spectacular manner?
The main reason for those mounting costs was apparently the adaption of the B&W Hallerne, the former shipyard that served as a venue for the event in May. “Only a few weeks before the show, we noticed which dimension this was going to take on,” said Lars Bernhard Jørgensen, the manager of Visit Copenhagen, the tourism company of the Danish capital. “The adaption had to be accomplished under serious time pressure. We had too little experience with construction projects,” he added. Jørgensen resigned in quick succession of the finance debacle.
Now Wonderful Copenhagen has to cope with the pile of debts the contest left behind. It has been decided that for now, parts of it will be payed by the region and the local municipality. In the next few years public fundings for Wonderful Copenhagen will be reduced in order to compensate the debts.
Sources: Tagesblatt | tv2.dk
