Two friends travelled 337 miles to attend Eurovision in outfits they had planned "years and years" in advance.
Jan and Patrick from Amsterdam arrived in Liverpool on Tuesday, May 9, for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. The pair managed to grab tickets for two of the jury shows on Wednesday and Friday and said they were "very excited".
They decided to come to the city a day early to soak up all of the atmosphere. They went to the EuroVillage at Pier Head dressed in an inflatable orange wigs and blue t-shirts with "keep calm and stay in tune" written on them.
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When asked about where the idea for the outfits came from Patrick said: "We had this [the outfits] ready for years and years."
Jan explained: "It started off with the T-shirt, and we sort of bought the wigs and then we had to add the flag and the clogs. My mother sewed the typical Dutch clothing, traditional clothing."
The friends said they had been in the EuroVillage for a number of hours and were waiting to watch the first semi-final show at 8pm.
Patrick said: "[The EuroVillage is] fantastic, we've only been here four hours but every hour was brilliant."
When asked who they were hoping would win Eurovision this year, both men said they liked the look of Finland.
Jan said: "There's a few that have a very good chance, there's Sweden, there's Finland and don't underestimate France."
Patrick said: "I'm looking forward most to seeing Finland on stage. I love the act." When asked if he thought Finland was going to win the Eurovision Song Contest he said "it could well be".
The EuroVillage is broadcasting the live shows to a crowd of 15,000 with the rest of the city holding their own, independent viewing parties.
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