Liverpool welcomed more than half a million visitors to the city over nine days of events to mark the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.
The celebrations concluded last night with Sweden’s Loreen taking the crown at the showpiece Grand Final held at the M&S Bank Arena. The arena, which looked spectacular on TV, also hosted two semi-finals and six preview shows.
One of the city's biggest draws was the Eurovision Village at Liverpool’s Pier Head. The fan area featured a main stage and hosted performers such as Sophie Ellis Bextor, Charlotte Church and Eurovision royalty Conchita Wurst while elsewhere there were Ukraine-inspired art installations including the Soloveiko Songbirds trail.
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According to Merseyside Police more than half a million people descended on the city centre for the run of events. It added Eurovision was staged without any major incidents.
Liverpool city centre has been in resurgent form in recent years as it sought to recover to pre-pandemic levels of footfall. The visitor numbers also remained high despite train strikes impacting national connections into Lime Street on the day of the final, with crowds across the city growing as the competition ramped up over the course of the week.
Liverpool City Council put £2 million towards the staging of the event which was match funded by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Further funding was provided by external sources such as the BBC, European Broadcasting Union and the Government.
It has been estimated that the initial hosting of the competition is worth in the region of £25 million to Liverpool this year, with one estimate from NatWest suggesting the event could initially be worth as much as £40 million in visitor spending . This number could inflate to £250 million by 2026 according to estimates cited by Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram at the end of 2022, with the hope that the Eurovision will increase tourism in the region by up to five per cent a year.
Liverpool's time as host was praised by visitors and event organisers alike. Last week Eurovision Song Contest's directing supervisor, Martin Österdahl, praised Liverpool for doing a "spectacular" job in hosting the showpiece event.
In the view of Liverpool City Council’s director of Culture, Claire McColgan, the events of the last week are proof of Liverpool’s capabilities when stepping up to the big occasions. Ms McColgan also highlighted the impact that can be made by funding cultural projects and events.
Writing for Liverpool City Council she said: “Over the last two weeks in Liverpool we have shown the UK and the rest of the world that if you invest in culture properly, if you have the right people with the right attitude, magic can – and will – happen.
“If councils across the country are looking at Liverpool now they will see the power of investing in culture over the long term. Because this city learned how to do this in 2008 and built on that success with great thought, great passion and great commitment through a sometimes stormy backdrop.”
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