On Saturday May 11th, happy Eurovision fans gathered at the Sheshi Italia square in central Tirana to cheer on their favorite songs in the Eurovision Song Contest broadcast from Malmö.
The screening was arranged by the Swedish Embassy in Tirana together with the EU delegation and the municipality of Tirana. The square was filled with burlap sacks and balloons in blue and yellow. Hundreds of excited Eurovision fans attended the screening, including several ambassadors, partners and media outlets.
Attendees had already gathered at 20.00 to dance to ABBA, Icona Pop and other Swedish music played by dj Zaava as a preparty before the main event. The event was the last during Europe Week 2024, which has involved many different promotional activities for the embassy and other EUMS in Tirana.
Diverse set of attendees
The event was open to the public and had been communicated through several channels. Even though the Albanian contestant Besa did not qualify for Saturday's final, the event was well attended by Eurovision fans. Among the attendents were representatives from the diplomatic corps, the embassy's partners and members from the Swedish alumni network in Albania. The ambassadors from Great Britain, Bulgaria, the EU delegation, France and Ukraine also joined during the evening, as well as the UN country coordinator and Tirana's deputy mayor.
Sweden: A leader in music export
Ambassador Niklas Ström gave the opening speech where he emphasized Sweden's prominent role as an exporter of music and Eurovision as a platform for a united Europe. The square was graced by the Swedish Institute's exhibition "Swedish Music Moments", which draws attention to influential Swedish artists and producers. There was also an ABBA photo wall which was used extensively during the evening.
Interest from Albanian media
The crowd erupted in cheers when the Albanian public service channel, RTSH, mentioned the event during the live broadcast of the Eurovision final. RTSH were also present at Sheshi Italia to make a news clip of the event in which the Ambassador Niklas Ström was interviewed.
Many attendees stayed until late in the night to watch the battle between the two favourites, Switzerland and Croatia. In the end, Switzerland with the singer Nemo won the competition. The good mood continued after the end of the final, the attendees from the Swiss Embassy were particularly happy having already asked for advice on organizing a similar event next year when Switzerland will host the competition.
