Music festival to celebrate 70 years of Eurovision

The Manx Music Festival takes place at the Villa Marina in Douglas between 25 April and 2 May

The Isle of Man's largest competitive music festival is set to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest with a special competition in its honour next year.

In a one-off for the 2026 Manx Music Festival, participants will have the opportunity to showcase a song previously preformed as an official entry in the contest.

The week-long annual festival at the Villa Marina in Douglas, which starts on 25 April, showcases the best solo singing, choirs and spoken word.

Festival chairman Anne Clarke said introducing the class was a "completely new thing" for the festival and while costumes were not obligatory, they were "preferred" to add to the fun of the event.

Those taking part will have the choice of singing their chosen Eurovision song in its original language either as a solo performer or as part of a group.

ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden in 1974, launching them to stardom

The one-off class focuses on past entries in the international song competition which is organised by the European Broadcasting Union and has been running since 1956.

"This is a completely new thing for us", Ms Clarke said, "with the 70th anniversary of Eurovision, we thought we'd have our own Eurovision Song Contest."

The deadline for entries in the class, which is only open to adults, is 31 January 2026.

Sam Ryder represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2022, finishing in second place

Known locally as the Guild, the Manx Music Festival has been an annual feature on the island since 1892.

Mr Clarke said the event had become firmly established as "part of the cultural history of the island".

"It's very popular and seems to grow every year," she said.

"We could do with another week of the festival, with just one week, we struggle to fit everything in."

The festival will run from 25 April until 2 May 2026.