Eurovision is becoming visible in Malmö – showcasing innovation, creativity, and sustainability

Signs of the approaching Eurovision week are now visible in sunny Malmö - flags, decorations, stage construction and lots of people on the move. Making Malmö feel inviting and welcoming is important for the city's hosting. Many Malmö residents are involved in creating experiences and a beautiful and sustainable decoration.

Along Friisgatan, which will become Eurovision Street, rows of fabric tassels in shades of pink and purple adorn the light strings across the street - about a thousand in total. The tassels have been made from recycled textiles in a workshop at Handkraft, an employment organisation for people with mental health problems who want to start or progress in their recovery.

- For us, hosting Eurovision has several values - not least social and environmental sustainability. Involving the people of Malmö and providing opportunities for many to be involved in creating a positive experience in the city is important for us. And that as much as possible of what we create in connection with the event is recycled and can be reused again,’ says Karin Karlsson, managing director city host event Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö.

So what can you create from recycled fabric from a sock factory, discarded tennis balls and shredded carpets from the Malmö Fair? This was the creative challenge when pupils from three primary schools were given the task of decorating huge photo frames that will adorn the train stations in Malmö during Eurovision week.

And in the old stable in Folkets Park, volunteers have spent the spring decorating more photo frames with colourful tulle pompoms that will appear around the city.

In the centre of Malmö, Eurovision-style flags and banners are now flying. The material from them can be recycled to make a collection of souvenirs or reused to create completely different designs for other events.

In Hyllie, a colourful and flowery welcome awaits visitors. There, 49,000 extra flower bulbs have been planted to add colour and a festive atmosphere. The bulbs come in blue-purple, white, cerise, pink, apricot and dramatic black.

- Now we hope they will bloom most beautifully during Eurovision week when thousands of visitors pass through here. Some of the bulbs will beautify Hyllie not only this year, but also in the future,’ says Elin Karlsson, landscape architect working with the city's flower programme.

The facts

• 70 per cent of the materials for the Eurovision decorations are borrowed, rented, second-hand, obtained via sharing services, recycled, etc. 90 per cent of all decorations will be reusable or recyclable after the event.
• Primary school pupils from Hyllievångsskolan, Möllevångsskolan and Österportsskolan, together with VA SYD's recycling and knowledge centre Kretseum, have created decorations from salvaged waste material.
• Handkraft is a social psychiatry centre in the city of Malmö that works purposefully with the city's climate and environmental goals. Since 1995, the organisation has been housed in an old industrial building on Sallerupsvägen, where there is a carpentry workshop, a textile studio, a bicycle workshop, a media workshop, a recycling workshop called Kreativiteten, a kitchen and dining room, and a shop that sells the utility and craft items to the public. Around 120 people regularly take part in the activities.
• The recycled fabric for the tassels comes from Siptex - the world's first automated textile sorting plant operated by SYSAV in Malmö.
• The design company Pow Studio, which recently won an award at the Malmö Business Gala in the field of creative industries, is one of the companies that contributed waste material.