“It's like tidying up after a party, it's never fun,” says Claire McColgan, Liverpool City Council’s Director of Culture, a few days after the Eurovision Song Contest had rolled out of town.
But rather than waking up with a headache and regretful flashbacks, the city is still smiling - even if those who were central to making everything happen are looking forward to a good night’s sleep. In the six months after Liverpool was announced as hosts a huge logistics operation got underway, an expansive culture learning programme was devised and the staging was dreamed up and set into place at the M&S Bank Arena.
When the party officially kicked off on May 5 it continued at apace for what many viewed as the most spectacular and successful Eurovision Song Contest ever held. Ms McColgan says that events of this calibre usually take two years to pull off, highlighting the scale in effort required, but attention is already on what comes next - the legacy.
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On the night of the final she remained at work in her office within the Cunard, right up until the fireworks spectacular and All You Need Is Love drifted out from the crowds across the Mersey. It was at least the perfect vantage point to drink in the celebrations at the highly popular EuroVillage at the Pier Head, but it has equally been somewhere to see the venues’ dismantling, the soloveiko song birds deflated and the colourful branding gradually stripped back.
Sobering as this has been for those who enjoyed the party, it will do little to dampen the joy in what Liverpool achieved. According to Merseyside Police more than half a million people descended on Liverpool for the nine days of events.
Remarkably, this smashed the 100,000 predicted. 250,000 visitors made their way to the EuroVillage while figures from Liverpool BID Company show the city centre had an additional 384,036 visitors while the event was taking place.
BID CEO Billy Addy said: “We know that the impact of Eurovision isn’t purely in the two weeks of celebrations, but for the 160m people watching at home and the projected economic impact of £250m over the next three years.”
The £250m figure stems from the hope of seeing the tourism sector grow by 5% a year as a result of hosting. In the short term, estimates predicted the competition could be worth £25m to the city, with one estimate from NatWest predicting that visitor spend could be as high as £40m.
Numbers aside, it was felt that Liverpool went above and beyond in its role as hosts on behalf of Ukraine. It led to what Ms McColgan referred to as a “supersized” event that left no corner unturned or draped in blue and yellow.
“There is nothing of this scale that we've done before,” she says, “37 countries would be talking about the host city - you can't buy that sort of publicity [and we] knew that from the very beginning.”
Asked what added to the harmonious atmosphere around the city, the Director of Culture believes that some of this ease was because Liverpool wasn’t required to throw itself front and centre. With the Culture Liverpool team adept at selling the city and its narrative, on this occasion Liverpool generously stepped aside and allowed Ukraine to come to the fore - the accent and visual language of the city often strong enough to show visitors exactly where they were and what it stands for.
“By hosting on behalf of Ukraine it gave it more depth of narrative than if we had been doing it by ourselves,” Ms McCogan says, adding: “it gave a narrative of this city in that it could let someone else take the lead and do it in a really beautiful way. The personality of Eurovision just suits Liverpool at this time.”
Since 2008 Liverpool has emerged as a cultural heavyweight, comfortable in the knowledge it has one of the strongest offers outside of the capital. But in years of financial difficulty, the city’s reliance on tourism and hospitality has been called into question for the money it produces compared to other sectors. Often the city has been akin to a beach resort that has faced one too many harsh winters as austerity, lockdown and the cost of living applied cut after cut.
These debates have not been put to rest due to the success of Eurovision, says Ms McColgan, but it should at least bring a renewed perspective over what the city does well and how it should utilise its biggest asset.
“I get that we need to balance the economy,” she says, “but you don't lose your unique selling point to build something new. You need to build on that success to bring something new.”
The legacy of the event could therefore take three forms, according to the Director of Culture. The cultural diplomacy the event has brought, the economic impact for the region and “consolidating our position as a city of music.”
The latter could come in the tangible form of a new cultural attraction on the waterfront. In autumn 2021 the city was awarded £2m from the Department of Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) to work on the business case for what was previously given the working title of 'The Pool' now potentially 'Liverpool Music' - visitor attraction which would shine a light on the city’s heritage as well as providing a platform for future creativity.
The money has now been delivered by the DCSM with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority said to be leading on the plans which require a business case to be prepared in the next six months. Ms McColgan says that it is the “right time” to press ahead with the project while Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said the event "will live long in people's hearts and minds - but I want to ensure that we're creating a tangible, lasting legacy for our region too."
He added: "Eurovision was the latest glittering chapter in the region’s back catalogue of musical success. Liverpool Music, a new immersive waterfront attraction would bring those greatest hits to life – and help us nurture the next generation of Liverpool City Region number ones. I've long said that this project has the potential to become another unbelievably important tourist attraction that could bring even more visitors from across the globe to our area.
“I was really glad that our joint efforts paid off when the government awarded £2m to help develop the business case. Work is currently underway to develop a plan to explore its potential to help us strengthen our region's cultural offer, creating secure, well-paid jobs and training opportunities along the way and keeping music fans coming to our region for years to come."
Discussions are also still ongoing around Liverpool potentially becoming the new home of the English National Opera after it was forced to leave London. Earlier this month it was revealed the city was a “strong contender” with Ms McColgan underscoring the desire to welcome such a prestigious cultural organisation to Liverpool.
'We need to keep the foot on the accelerator'
The Eurovision aesthetic may not be exactly what the city built its musical reputation on, but such was the interest in the event there were hopes it could shine a light on the emerging sounds of the city. While there’s no denying Liverpool’s music sector has faced enormous challenges in the last decade, there’s now an urgent desire to see the opportunity grasped and put the city’s venues, artists and associated business on more stable footing.
Natalie McCool has worked her way up through the independent sector for a number of years and was part of the Welcome to Eurotopia commission that opened the festivities at the Pier Head. The show was a collaboration with local trio Stealing Sheep and featured star studded cameos, a house band made up of Ukrainian artists, covers, original music and psychedelic visuals.
Everyone from Eurovision superfans to those simply wanting to see what was happening at the waterfront were in attendance. Natalie says it was “a baptism of fire”, such was the scale of the event, but one that showed off the best of the city and its potential moving forward.
“The energy and excitement for something new,” says Natalie, “that energy is something that can be taken away from this," adding: “a lot of the time we are struggling with people going to gigs - people aren't going to gigs anymore.
“We have to take away from this that there is an appetite there. We need to keep that idea that there are people who are willing to come to an event they have never been to before and they don't know what is going to happen.”
Stealing Sheep’s Becky Hawley is similarly optimistic about using the new found confidence to energise the local sector. “Eurovision gave Liverpool a vision to see what the future of our music and arts scene could be like,” she says, adding: “Networking opportunities came with art, dance and music. Literally anywhere we went, every art organisation was alive doing something for Eurovision.”
Yaw Owusu, an artist manager, member of the city region music board and also part of the Eurovision legacy group, is keen to ensure certain questions about the impact and sustained benefits of the event remain high up on the order - with some plans or answers ready in the next six months. He believes the event has been a big success but wants the city’s music sector, having faced a difficult few years and regularly seeing some of its top talent relocate for opportunities, to share in the optimism in a meaningful way.
He told the ECHO: “Eurovision can make us believe we're in a better place than what we are. But when the lights go off, it is the individuals who work in the [local music sector] all of the time. They have to still go forward. Is it going to be easier, are we all going to benefit? Is it a tide where we all move up?”
He added: “We have got the strategy, we have got the music board, which I think is very different to what it was in 2008. The opportunity we have is bigger, the potential is bigger.
“The energy and love for the city, and its visibility, is probably at the highest point since 2008. But what are we going to do with it? Investment, pathways and jobs, it is a bit more of a grind.
“It would be easy to pack up and go ‘job done’. I think we now need to be ambitious and push ourselves. I find that exciting. It could flourish for everyone.”
For Kevin McManus, head of UNESCO City of Music for Liverpool, the opportunity needs to be grasped in the next two years as much as it was in the last two weeks. Commenting on the achievement of the programming at the EuroVillage, he observed it catered for everyone from “five to 85”, among them Eurovision enthusiasts, indie lovers and those there to see the DJs and local talent and a special performance by the English National Orchestra. In many ways this was a reflection of the Music City he lobbies for in his role.
“[One one hand] it was a culture event with the BBC, but it was all about selling the city’s music,” says Mr McManus, reflecting on the successes of the last two weeks. He points to the inclusion of local acts at the Pier Head and the events which filled venues like Camp and Furnace, The Philharmonic, the British Music Experience, as well as The Coral playing a show at grassroots venue Future Yard in Birkenhead in line with the celebrations.
Mr McManus added: “We needed to sell the city as a music destination. Eurovision has allowed us to do that. There is now a will to recognise that we can do more.
“We need to press home the advantage. We need to keep the foot on the accelerator. We’re in a much better position now than if Eurovision had not happened. We have real momentum.”
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