What Glasgow is missing out on as Liverpool gears up for Eurovision Song Contest

As the days tick down to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, GlasgowWorld has been finding out a bit about how Liverpool is getting set for the big event with the grand final taking place on Saturday, May 13.

Glasgow was shortlisted to host the 2023 competition but faced stiff competition from Liverpool who were eventually picked as the host city.

To get to that point, Glasgow had beaten the likes of Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield to get down to the last two.

The competition is being hosted on behalf of Ukraine who were unable to meet the demands of hosting the event due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Last year, the Ukranian rap group Kalush Orchestra were the winners of the contest with the song “Stefania”.

It would have been great had Glasgow got the chance to put on the event having recently had the eyes of the world upon us after welcoming delegates to COP26 and also being chosen to host the UCI World Cycling Championships later in 2023.

We all wish Liverpool the very best and caught up with Emma Dukes from LiverpoolWorld to find out how they are getting ready for the big occasion.

Dukes said, “We’ve got a massive Ukrainian community anyway, so when it was Ukrainian Independence Day, we had a huge event at St. George’s Hall which is where a lot of Eurovision events are being held. There’s going to be a free Eurovision festival and there was a huge turnout there.

“The local museums also had talks about Ukraine. They had it translated into English and Ukrainian so English people could hear about what was happening in Ukraine because obviously, everyone is kind of aware of the conflict, but there wasn’t an in-depth conversation going on about what was happening or what Ukraine does for the world.

“They’re a huge grower of sunflower seeds and just all these kinds of things that we didn’t know. So even before we were chosen to host Eurovision, there was a lot of stuff going on for the Ukrainian community anyway, and since we’ve been chosen to host Eurovision, it’s just got even better. So the local library has a section for Ukrainian books now, the Superlambbanana has been painted in the Ukrainian flag (blue and yellow) - it really does seem like Ukraine is at the centre of it.

“A lot of local venues are going to be doing a mixture of Ukrainian food and classic Scouse food and because we’re such a big party city as well, just like Glasgow, there’s going to be a lot of partying going on. There’s going to be a trail for Sonya who came second in 1993. She’s a Scouser, so there’s going to be links to both.”

The M&S Bank Arena will have the spotlight on it during the final which although isn’t the biggest of venues, has likely been chosen due to its surroundings. The competition will be a huge boost to the area which is being welcomed by everyone in the city.

Dukes added, “Our local shops have surprisingly been doing okay. They’ve continued to have high footfall and good sales, but it’s the local restaurants and independent stuff that have seen the biggest hit. I think when more and more people come here, a lot of people are going to instantly go for the chain restaurants and they’re going to get booked up quickly. So, I think it’s going to give a lot more customers to the little local independent places that need it the most. A lot of the big shops around the city centre are hiring temporary staff, so I think they’re expecting really high footfall everywhere.

“I think you’re just going to miss out on having loads of different cultures all there at the same time. Even if you’re not a fan of Eurovision, the atmosphere around is just going to be amazing. So the main thing is just going to be the party atmosphere I think.”

To keep track on Eurovision in Liverpool be sure to check out the page here.