The Eurovision Song Contest 1976 was the 21st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 3 April 1976 at the Nederlands Congrescentrum in The Hague, Netherlands, and presented by Corry Brokken. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), who staged the event after winning the 1975 contest for the Netherlands with the song "Ding-a-dong" by Teach-In. Brokken had also won the contest for the Netherlands in 1957.

Broadcasters from eighteen countries participated in the contest with Sweden, Malta, and Turkey opting not to return after participating the previous year. Malta would not return again until 1991. On the other hand, Austria and Greece returned to the competition, having been absent since 1972 and 1974 respectively.

The United Kingdom won the contest this year with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man. The song went on to become the biggest selling winning single in the history of the contest and won with 80.39% of the possible maximum score and an average of 9.65 of 12; a record under the voting system introduced in 1975.

The Hague is the seat of government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the capital city of the province of South Holland. It is also the third-largest city in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation. The contest took place at the Congresgebouw (presently known as the World Forum). The venue was constructed in 1969.

Sweden, Malta and, Turkey all decided not to participate this year, while Austria and Greece returned to the contest, making for eighteen participating countries.

After many controversies related to the previous year's contest, the Swedish broadcaster, Sveriges Radio (SR), decided not to participate, as they did not have enough money to host another contest if they won again. SR's withdrawal forced the introduction of a new rule in which from 1977 onwards, registration and maintenance fees would be introduced for each of the participating broadcasters, which was meant for financing future contests. These demands forced the Maltese broadcaster to withdraw, as it had a very small budget for 1976.

As the author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor notes in his book The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History, "there had been public demonstrations in Sweden against the contest, which also played a part in SR's decision not to take part".

Several of the performing artists had previously competed as lead artists representing the same country in past editions: Fredi had represented Finland in 1967; Anneli Koivisto as part of "The Friends" had represented Finland in 1971 as part of Koivistolaiset; Peter, Sue and Marc had represented Switzerland in 1971; Sandra Reemer had represented the Netherlands in 1972 along Andres Holten; and Anne-Karine Strøm had represented Norway in 1973 as part of the Bendik Singers and in 1974.