Eurovision – The Return!

LIVERPOOL has special plans in place to re-live its hosting of THE most successful Eurovision Song Contest of all time!

'Liverpool Loves Eurovision' will be a series of free events; will take place on:- Saturday, 11 May 2024, transporting visitors to that incredible fortnight; that took place in May last year; by paying homage to elements of 2023's incredibly popular programme which helped attract around 500,000 people to the City Centre.

Liverpool's Director of Culture, Claire McColgan CBE, said:- "We would have major Eurovision FOMO if we didn't do anything this year; it was an unforgettable moment in time for this City that we wanted to do elements of it all over again and party like it's 2023! We want to position Liverpool as the UK's Capital of Eurovision and ensure there is a real legacy to our Eurovision experience. For those fans not traveling to Malmö, we want to encourage them to return to Liverpool and spend time here and enjoy the work of some of our brilliant artists and creatives. With a wide range of events, there is something for everyone; so get planning on how you will be United By Music, on:- Saturday, 11 May 2024."

The FREE events taking place on:- 11 May 2024, include:-

• Between:- 1pm to 7pm Beats on the Streets will take over Castle Street, Liverpool 1 and the Royal Albert Dock Liverpool when 30 pop up music and dance performances by local artists will take over the locations throughout the day. Expect a soundtrack of Eurovision hits from across the years performed by some of the best local talent.
  

• The Bluecoat will mark the Anniversary with Fly High; a beautiful art installation of blue and yellow butterfly lanterns created at family sessions. The butterflies represent how Liverpool shone under the global Eurovision spotlight and have been curated by artist Andrea Ku from B4 Biodiversity.
  

• As a stand alone commission to mark the Anniversary of Liverpool 2023, Welcome to Aquatopia will see the return of the blue and yellow submarine underwater disco; this time taking over the Pier Head. Curated by the Invisible Wind Factory, this is a family friendly event with:- DJ sets, dance performances and sea puppetry on the Submarine Stage (located near the Ferry Terminal) and Crafty Fish workshops in Mann Island atrium, which will see families encouraged to create their very own fishy fashion accessory in order to join the roller-skating jellyfish and giant octopus in a special deep sea disco. It will run from:- 2pm until 7pm, and will include a whole host of collaborations with local communities and Ukrainian performers.

More events will be added to the line up soon, including a reimagining of treasure hunt spectacular Spot Sonia, but this time with some very well known Eurovision legends…

For full details of what's on, where and when, head to the Visit Liverpool website, or follow @VisitLiverpool on social media and use #LpoolLovesEurovision #LiverpoolLovesEurovision.

All of the activities will complement the Malmö on the Mersey Grand Final Screening, at the Exhibition Centre Liverpool, on:- 11 May 2024.

Find out more about the impressive impact of hosting Eurovision for Liverpool and the wider City Region.

Liverpool Loves Eurovision forms part of the Liverpool Loves campaign which aims to position Liverpool as the best place to attend an event in the UK. As well as Eurovision, Comic Con and Taylor Swift will also get the Liverpool Loves treatment in the coming months.

Aquatopia's Sam Crombie added:- "Last year's Blue and Yellow Submarine Parade was a joyous experience and we can't wait to celebrate again on the Pier Head with all our fishy friends in a magical deep sea party. Everyone is invited to come and be immersed in our Aquatopia Kingdom for a day of crafts, dancing, creativity, and unity. With the iconic backdrop of the River Mersey we couldn't think of a better setting to bring everyone together."

Any business or organisation that wants to be involved in the Liverpool Loves campaign should contact:- Info@MarketingLiverpool.Co.UK.

Links to our coverage on Southport Reporter:-

Part 1 of our event coverage, click here. Part 2 please click here.  To see Part 3 click here and Part 4 please click here.

This is our video footage from the events in 2023:-

No hurdles for Grand National racegoers thanks to Merseyrail's outstanding service

MORE than 103,000 journeys were made by racegoers travelling to and from:- The Grand National Festival, at Aintree Racecourse, thanks to a dedicated timetable that saw a 7½ minute service.

Merseyrail once again supported the world famous sporting festival, giving away 5,000 pairs of its famous flip flops, delivering live music and entertainment to customers at:- Moorfields, Liverpool Central and Aintree Stations; as well as introducing the extra services to get people to and from the event.

The plan for this year was the most comprehensive ever put on by the train company, with a massive increase in capacity. More than 8,500 customers an hour were able to be transported quickly and safely at the busiest times, thanks to 8 car trains being used at the Grand National Festival for the 1st time ever.

Additional staff supported customers at the main Stations and the network delivered a reliable and punctual service throughout the festival.

Three charities held collections at Merseyrail Stations during the 3 day festival, Woodlands Hospice, Centre 56 and Blackburne House, helping to raise thousands of pounds for these good causes.

Commenting on X (formerly known as Twitter), @dottyslipper said:- "Literally love the Merseyrail experience on Grand National Day. Highlight of my day!"

Shelagh Kelly Redmond commented on Facebook:- "Well done to everyone at Merseyrail. Great organising with so many people."

Jacqui Parkinson said:- "I was at Central Station on Friday morning taking my grandson to Southport, the atmosphere at the Station was brilliant, well done Merseyrail, so well organised."

Martin Grice commented:- "Very well organised, trains reliable, plenty of friendly, helpful staff and great entertainment. Such a great advert for the City with so many people having a positive experience visiting the area. The welcome passengers get on race days means Merseyrail is very much part of the Grand National experience."

The increase of capacity and frequency of trains to Aintree was crucial to be able to meet the huge numbers of racegoers. Merseyrail worked closely with colleagues from The Jockey Club, British Transport Police, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Stadler, Carlisle Security, and Network Rail to ensure train operations ran smoothly throughout the 3 days.

Specialist Network Rail staff were in place throughout the 3 days to address any issues that arose during the event. Their preparation work included thermal imaging runs, additional inspections on crossover points, and reviews of track components. The work was carried out by mobile drones, ensuring that engineering staff were kept safe and rail infrastructure undisturbed while the inspections took place.

These checks were in addition to the normal inspections of the network that is undertaken throughout the year. But with an enhanced train service for the Grand National Festival, it was vital that the infrastructure was double-checked ahead of such a big event.

Neil Grabham, Merseyrail Managing Director, said:- "It's always an honour to work with Aintree Racecourse and The Jockey Club to support the Grand National Festival. We're really proud of the fantastic customer service we have delivered for the 2024 Grand National Festival. It's a massive challenge for Merseyrail, but 1 that our staff rise to every year. Their expertise and professionalism ensured racegoers benefitted from our first-class transport network. There is a huge amount of preparation work that goes into providing our special service to The Grand National Festival each year. We work incredibly closely with colleagues at Network Rail, British Transport Police, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Stadler, Carlisle Security and The Jockey Club to ensure the best travel experience we can for racegoers. Merseyrail provides much more than a train service across the 3 days. Our customers love the atmosphere that we help to create with entertainment, music and charity activity at our Stations. It's a unique experience that for many is an integral part of attending the races. This is a collaborative effort, with many skilled workers coming together to help deliver 1 of the greatest sporting occasions in the world. Everyone at Merseyrail loves this event, and it was great to see so many managers and head office staff volunteer to support our fantastic Stations teams, helping to ensure everyone had a great experience. mWe have received some lovely feedback from visitors to the Region who were really impressed with Merseyrail. You can rest assured that we will be ready to support the Grand National Festival in 2025."

Phil James, Network Rail's North West route director, said:- "I hope our passengers had a fantastic time at the Grand National. It was a pleasure to work with Merseyrail to make sure everyone could travel safely to Aintree. Our maintenance team in Liverpool carried out special drone inspections along the route to make sure we could provide a reliable service in advance of the Grand National festival. We also had extra response teams ready to address any issues as soon as possible. I'm pleased to say that passengers were kept safely on the move to and from Aintree throughout the 3 days."