What's On?
Liverpool has been approaching its hosting duties for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine with all of the enthusiasm such an event deserves. So much so, that a visit to the city is now proving to be an irresistible draw for any fans of the Contest - regardless of whether or not they’ve managed to secure a sought-after ticket to any of the live shows.
From club nights to cultural happenings, and from Euro Villages to Euro Festivals, we’ve put together a guide to what’s going on in Liverpool for the two weeks that the city plays host to the 67th Eurovision Song Contest.
The VisitLiverpool Eurovision page is a great place to start planning, and keep checking back here as more updates and announcements are being made, so as to take full advantage of the complete Eurovision Song Contest experience that Liverpool is offering in May.
Contest fans and visitors from around the world can also start planning their itineraries with the help of the VisitLiverpool App and Visitor Guide. It features the essential information and inspiration, as well as all the Eurovision themed events taking place across the city from 1-15 May.
Eurovision Village
Located at Pier Head, Eurovision Village is set to be the main hub for fans and locals to soak up the celebratory atmosphere of the Eurovision Song Contest when it heads to Liverpool. For those first two weeks in May, the location will be hosting events, live performances and screenings of the Grand Final and the two Semi-Finals. Names confirmed include Eurovision icons like Kalush Orchestra, Jamala, Melovin, Go_A, Sonia, Jedward and Brooke, as well as participants competing in the 2023 Contest. Big names from the world of pop, such as Vengaboys, Fleur East, Jake Shears and Claire from Steps, will also be on entertainment duties for the week.
A complete programme for the Eurovision Village can be found right here.
EuroClub
The official after-party to all of the events going on in the city, EuroClub at Camp and Furnace will be hosting nightly Eurovision fiestas that will be going on until the early hours. From Friday 5 May until Saturday 13 May, live performances and DJ sets will ensure that fans of the Contest are given ample opportunity to shimmy to the show-stopping tunes of Eurovision past and present. Guest performers already announced include Conchita Wurst, Charlotte Perrelli, KEiiNO and Linda Martin, with plenty more to be revealed soon.
Keep an eye on the EuroClub website for insight and info.
EUROfansCLUB
Organised by dedicated fans of the Eurovision Song Contest and located at Fusion on Fleet Street, EUROfansCLUB is a series of club nights for all of the revellers amongst us. Taking place from Monday 8 May to Saturday 13 May, as well as the Eurovision tunes, there'll also be guest performances from some Contest favourites. Announced so far have been the likes of Kate Ryan, Destiny, Rosa López and The Roop. The organisers have promised that doors will be remaining open until 6am - so get that disco nap in before you head out!
Full details of the themed nights are available on the website.
The Big Eurovision Welcome
St. George’s Hall will be the buzzing venue of The National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome - a live show to demonstrate Liverpool’s famously warm reputation as hosts. Bringing together big performances, collaborations and some stunning production and staging, this high-energy show will welcome the largest crowd for any single event to be staged in Liverpool for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. Taking place on the evening of Sunday 7 May, 30,000 tickets are being made available to the public for free, thanks to The National Lottery. AJ Odudu and Joel Dommett will be on hosting duties for the evening, and performers already announced include Conchita Wurst, Atomic Kitten, Jamala, Zara Larsson and the reunion of Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
Full details on the event and ticketing, right here.
Live Screenings
Screenings of the 67th Eurovision Song Contest Grand Finals and Semi-Finals are happening all over the host city. If you're in Liverpool for the event, but without a ticket for the live shows, there'll be no shortage of spots across town where you can watch our spectacles of song unfold. As well as the options mentioned elsewhere on this page, just some of the venues offering live screenings are: The Tate Liverpool; The British Music Experience; The World Museum; Everyman Playhouse; and St. George's Hall.
EuroFestival
Taking place from 1 to 14 May, EuroFestival is something of a first for a Eurovision host city, as it presents 24 cultural commissions - 19 of which are collaborative projects between artists from Ukraine and the United Kingdom - to showcase the uniting power of music and art. The impressive programme of events - ranging from music performances and documentary screenings to photography exhibitions and mass-participation dance events - will transform Liverpool as fans from across the world descend upon the city.
You can peruse the full programme at the EuroFestival website.
Douze Points with The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
From ABBA's Waterloo to Lordi's Hard Rock Hallelujah, and from Sam Ryder's SPACE MAN to Dana International's Diva, we'll be able to hear some of our most beloved tunes from Eurovision Song Contest performed by The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. This one-off concert, celebrating the Contest's visit to Liverpool, is happening on Friday 12 May at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. Host for the night will be Owain Wyn Evans from BBC Radio 2's Early Breakfast Show.
More info and tickets can be found right here.
The Blue and Yellow Submarine Parade
The Blue and Yellow Submarine Parade will take over the city centre on Friday 5 May, and will see an underwater sea disco come to life on the city streets as a new magical world called Aquatopia is created. Featuring a glitterball puffer fish, a drumming octopus, a crew of skating jellyfish, voguing Sea Queens plus many more creatures of the sea - and, of course, a blue and yellow submarine. The parade will start at 18:00 local time at Williamson Square, and will travel in a loop along Whitechapel, up Church Street and along Basnett Street. It will head back to Williamson Square at approximately 19:45, for an epic finale moment.
Museum of Liverpool
Whether you fancy an extra-special screening of the Grand Final on Saturday 13 May, or you want two whole evenings of entertainment on the dates of the First and Second Semi-Finals on 9 and 11 May, the Museum of Liverpool is dedicating part of its impressive space towards precisely that. Before you get caught up in the excitement of the Eurovision Song Contest on its live-show nights, you can explore Liverpool’s fascinating, diverse history in this magnificent waterfront museum.
National Museums Liverpool have announced a full programme of Eurovision-related events taking place in Liverpool museums during the first two weeks of May.
Stand Up For Eurovision
Eight competing Eurovision countries will be flexing their comedy muscles in a very special host city event in Liverpool. On Thursday 4 May, Stand Up For Eurovision will see comedians from across Europe take part in a unique stand-up show at Mountford Hall (Liverpool Guild of Students). The evening event will be compered by much-loved scouse comedian and podcaster Adam Rowe, and aims to showcase the best comedy acts from across a range of nations.
For the full lineup, and for tickets, you can visit this web page.
A Thong For Europe
A new musical play from Jonathan Harvey, of Gimme Gimme Gimme, Beautiful Thing and Our Lady of Blundellsands fame. He has written a brand-new comedy that promises to boom bang your bang and ding your dong! Packed with hit songs from the Eurovision Song Contest, it tells the story of a Contest super-fan who gets the opportunity to make an impact on Eurovision in Liverpool. The play runs from 2 May to 27 May.
More info, and tickets, is available right here.
Royal Albert Dock
Liverpool’s iconic Royal Albert Dock location has planned a three-week programme of events catered towards people flocking to the city for the Eurovision Song Contest. From Ukrainian food and drink to live music events and creative pop-ups, the jewel in Royal Albert Dock’s schedule is the installation of a 10-metre artwork, Floating Earth, which will shine brightly in the dock from 28 April to 18 May.
More information can be found on Royal Albert Dock’s Eurovision page.
Concert Square
The popular Liverpool nightlife hot-spot, Concert Square, is dedicating its space to the Eurovision Song Contest for three weekends of live music and entertainment. Commencing on Sunday 30 April at 14:00 local time, a series of performances has been planned to celebrate the Contest’s past and present. Two more parties are planned for Sunday 7 May and Saturday 13 May, with all three dates free to attend. ABBA tribute band, ABBA Forever, have been brought onboard to headline the trinity of top-notch soirées.
More info about what’s in store can be found here.
Rave UKraine
This event On Sunday 7 May promises to be a first of its kind: a party taking place in two cities, at the exact same time, thousands of miles apart - both broadcast via a livestream to make one singular, unifying rave. The venue CONTENT Liverpool will host the UK rave, while Kyiv’s HVLV Bar will be the location for the Ukrainian one. Hot Chip, the acclaimed band from the UK, will be performing a DJ set, as will Ukrainian DJ Mingulitka, alongside icons of electronic music DJ Paulette and James Lavelle. Acclaimed DJ Jodie Harsh will also be performing at the event, alongside British DJ and radio presenter Sarah Story and Ukrainian DJ and producer Human Magareeta.
Tickets for Rave UKraine are available via Dice FM / Resident Advisor. All profits from Rave UKraine go to Music Saves UA.
EuroStreet
EuroStreet has been specially curated in collaboration with many partners across the Liverpool City Region. It provides a unique opportunity for communities across the region to get involved, take part, deliver events and celebrate all things related to the Eurovision Song Contest, under the United By Music slogan. Events announced so far include Songs For Europe, Festival for Europe and even a special event dedicated to that favourite Ukrainian pastime - chess!
EuroStreet is a continually evolving programme, so keep checking the site for details and updates.
EuroGrant
Over 60 community groups and grassroots organisations have received EuroGrant funding to help sprinkle some Eurovision-themed glitter all across Liverpool City Region. Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Culture Liverpool invited organisations to apply for grants of up to £2,000 to get into the Eurovision spirit by hosting events that celebrate the competition itself, the relationship Ukraine and the wider European heritage in Liverpool.
From Eurovision parties for adults with physical and learning disabilities, to a cabaret event for Liverpool's migrant communities, people right across Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, Halton, St Helens and Knowsley will be able to get into the Eurovision spirit after 63 organisations secured funding.
A full list of organisations which have secured funding, plus what they have planned, is available here.