Malta will host the 24th Junior Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday 24 October, with Public Broadcasting Services set to stage the event at the MFCC venue in Ta’Qali. The announcement puts the contest back on Maltese soil for the first time since 2016, when Valletta last staged it.
For PBS, the assignment marks another turn as host broadcaster after it also handled the 2014 edition. Malta has won Junior Eurovision twice, first in 2013 with Gaia Cauchi’s The Start and again in 2015 with Destiny’s Not My Soul. On Friday 15 May, the European Broadcasting Union said PBS will host the 2026 contest, and Martin Green praised the broadcaster’s track record in delivering a world-class event for young performers.
Green said PBS will once again deliver a spectacular show that captures the creativity, diversity and spirit at the heart of Junior Eurovision. Keith Chetcuti said Malta is Eurovision’s biggest fan and ally, calling it the nation’s biggest honour to be chosen as host and saying the country is ready to make the event a landmark one. PBS framed the announcement as a call for audiences to unite for a celebration where Mediterranean tradition and the future of music come together under one sky.
The move matters because Junior Eurovision is now in its 23rd year and remains a showcase for artists aged 9 to 14, while the broader Eurovision system continues to draw on the reach of the European Broadcasting Union, which counts 113 Members across 56 countries and 31 Associates in Asia, Australasia, Africa and the Americas. Malta’s return to hosting also follows France’s record-equalling fourth Junior Eurovision victory in 2025, won by Lou Deleuze with Ce Monde.
For Malta, the contest is not just another live television production. It is a homecoming built on recent history, and PBS now has to turn that history into a show that meets the expectations of a contest that has become one of Europe’s most visible stages for young talent.
