Last night, at a gala celebration in Helsinki, hundreds of Eurovision fans gathered to mark an important milestone: the 30th anniversary of the OGAE International Network!
As any diehard Eurovision fan knows, the Organisation Générale des Amateurs de l’Eurovision was founded in Finland three decades ago. It’s subsequently grown into an international network with branches in 42 countries and nearly 10,000 members around the world. Besides distributing tickets to ESC, OGAE clubs help raise awareness about Eurovision and provide a platform for fans to share their passion at parties, preview events, and on the famous Eurovision Cruise.
Maiken Mäemets, the President of the OGAE International Network, is thrilled with the network’s growth.
OGAE clubs have shown significant development in the past few years. Their work has become more professional, particularly with the introduction of the international OGAE membership card, and with wider recognition of OGAE, the number of members has grown significantly. Thirty years is a long time for any organisation and we are happy that today we are making history!
Jouni Pihkakorpi, the President of the Euroviisuklubi OGAE Finland, has seen significant developments at home.
This year we’ve grown with 100 new members and what’s notable is that entire families join OGAE Finland. This shows that the Eurovision Song Contest is still strongly a family-event. Most of our members live in the Greater Helsinki area, and we have an equal amount of men and women as members. Eurovision fandom is doing well and it is an honor to be President of such an active OGAE club. Eurovision – music for everybody!
The entire team at wiwibloggs want to thank OGAE International and all of the individual clubs for all of the work that you do every day to keep the music flowing and the party going. We can’t wait to see how you elevate Eurovision in the next 30 years! In honor of you, we’ve also compiled a list of 30 Eurovision Artists Over the Age of 30.
In case you’re wondering, the beautiful people at the top are the various OGAE Presidents from around the world.
