Liverpool 2023: Tickets to be made available for displaced Ukrainians

24 February 2023 at 23:30 CET

Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 Grand Final EBU / Corinne Cumming

Thousands of tickets will be made available for displaced Ukrainians to attend the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool in May.

The United Kingdom Government has announced that around 3,000 tickets will be made available for those Ukrainians who have been forced from their homes and are living in the UK - meaning they can attend one of the Live Shows and help mark the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra's victory at last year’s Contest.

United Kingdom Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said:

'Today's announcement means that thousands of tickets will be offered to those displaced by war, so that they can take part in a show honouring their homeland, their culture and their music. As always, we stand together with the Ukrainian people and their fight for freedom.’

Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko added:

‘The allocation of almost 3,000 tickets to displaced Ukrainians for the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool will allow our compatriots here to enjoy the event and celebrate our country's rich culture and music.’

Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson said:

‘Ukraine is at the heart of all our Eurovision host city plans.
Working with our Ukrainian community we are shaping a thought-provoking and powerful programme that is all-encompassing and representative of modern Ukraine – inspiring, poignant, funny, beautiful and moving.
We’re delighted with the news that displaced Ukrainians are being given the opportunity to come to the city in May – this is their Eurovision after all. Our team has been working tirelessly behind the scenes and we can’t wait to give them a warm Liverpool welcome and, fingers crossed, do them, the rest of the Ukraine and the UK proud.’

Ukrainians based in the UK via the ‘Homes for Ukraine Scheme’, the ‘Ukraine Family Scheme’ and the ‘Ukraine Extension Scheme’, will be able to apply for tickets. Tickets will be offered for all nine Live Shows.

Tickets for displaced Ukrainians will be subsidised by the UK's Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and a £20 charge will be applied to each sale. Further details of the application process for the tickets for displaced Ukrainians will be announced in due course.

An announcement about tickets on general sale will also be made in due course.