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Liverpool Echo

Entertainment

Christopher Megrath

EuroFestival launches all across Liverpool for Eurovision

Eurovision (Organization) EuroFestival Ukraine

The EuroFestival, celebrating the Eurovision Song Contest arriving in Liverpool, has kickstarted its two weeks of celebrations.

From May 1 to May 14, the city will be transformed into a hub of culture, music, art, heritage and true stories that accurately represent a modern Ukraine. The festival is a love letter to the nation as Liverpool hosts the contest on their behalf.

Multiple events have already popped up around the city including the Soloveiko Songbirds and the Protect the Beats monument. Today marks the first day the majority of attractions and events are officially "open" for the public to enjoy.

The Soloveiko Songbirds are 12, large-scale, light-up nightingales located around the city. Each songbird is designed with unique plumage and accompanied by bespoke audio soundscapes to represent different regions of Ukraine. When viewed collectively, the Songbirds make up a beautiful trail which can be followed by the public over the two-week festival.

The Nelson Monument in Exchange Flags, Liverpool is covered in 2,500 sandbags as part of the EuroFestival (Liverpool Echo)

Surrounded by thousands of sandbags to replicate the way statues in Ukraine are being protected from bombardment, the Nelson Monument, located in Exchange Flags, is hosting Protect the Beats. Within the structure are screens premiering a new short documentary which highlights how live music and performance continued throughout last year, showing in one piece the protection of both physical and musical culture.

With Fire and Rage is an immersive audio experience (accessed via QR codes located around the city) following the stories of artists on the frontline in Ukraine. Combining testimony with video, visual art, poetry and music, this smartphone adventure explores the powerful role creativity plays in the face of invasion.

The journey leads viewers from music concerts in metro stations during air raids, to smuggling artworks out of cities as rockets fall, to puppet shows live-streamed out of bomb shelters. Set against the backdrop of Liverpool, public locations take on new meaning as audiences engage with acts of cultural resilience and the stories of the people behind them.

Sound of Freedom is a large-scale mural commissioned by Ukrainian and UK artists placed around the city in high-visibility spots. The National Museum's Liverpool x Eurovision is also currently housing activity across the two-week period.

Soloveiko Songbirds in the garden at Liverpool Parish Church (Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)

Queerovision is an online commission showing digital video reportage of Liverpool's Queer Fringe. In collaboration with Ukrainian curator Olena Kasperovych, the Dialogues project is an evolving exhibition taking place at The Bluecoat. Prints and other artworks will gradually fill the galleries, charting the relationship between the collaborators.

Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral is hosting a special video installation documenting the journey Ukrainians need to make in order to flee the nation following Russia's invasion.

Izyum to Liverpool is the train journey told through a multi-channel video installation filmed direct from the railway carriage. Filmed in real-time, this is an extraordinary window into the journey of escape many Ukrainians have taken since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.

EuroFestival's full lineup can be read here with the schedule as follows:

Big Eurovision Read: Liverpool Central Library, launching April
Protect the Beats: Exchange Flags, May 1- 14, 10 am - 9 pm
Sound of Freedom: Tempest Hey Building, Liverpool, May 1 -14
National Museums Liverpool x Eurovision: National Museums Liverpool May 1 - 14
With Fire and Rage: Multiple sites throughout the city, trail starts at Everyman Theatre, May 1- 14
Soloveiko Songbird: Trail locations can be found across Liverpool city centre, May 1 - 14
Queerovision: Onlne, May 1- 14
Dialogues: The Bluecoat, May 1 - 14
Izyum to Liverpool: Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, May 1 - 19
Chornobyldorf: Invisible Wind Factory, May 1 -2
A Place of Hope: Unity Theatre, May 2 - 5 and 9 - 11
Late at Tate Liverpool: The Spirit of Eurovision: Tate, May 4, 6 pm - 10 pm
Home: Open Eye Gallery, May 5 - July
The People's Flag: Online, May 5
The Blue and Yellow Submarine Parade: Various across the city centre, May 5, 6 pm - 9 pm
Welcome to Eurotopia: Pier Head, EurovisionVillage - Main Stage, May 5
Xpressia Festival: Various underground locations - May 7 - 9
Rave UKraine: Hangar 54 - May 7
Eurocamp presents...: Chavasse Park, Liverpool One, May 8 - 10, 1 pm - 9 pm
Jamala presents QIRIM to the world: Pier Head, EurovisionVillage - Main Stage, May 11
Storyville Live: Everyman Cinema, Metquarter, May 11 - 12
You’re A Vision!: Liverpool Everyman Theatre, May 12
ENO does Eurovision: Pier Head, EurovisionVillage - Main Stage, May 13