Contract documents have revealed how much it cost to stage the spectacular Eurovision opening ceremony.
Around 25,000 people gathered outside St George’s Hall on Sunday as the city welcomed the 67th Eurovision Song Contest with a dazzling live show of music, performance and reflection. The National Lottery Big Eurovision Welcome was the first of a series of major events to be held throughout this month as Liverpool hosts the competition on behalf of Ukraine.
Now, contract details released online have confirmed just how much the massive outdoor concert has cost. According to its online register of terms handed out, six contracts for services totalling more than £357,000 were awarded with costs covered by the National Lottery.
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Around a third of that went on security, with £120,412 spent on staff from FGH Security to monitor the event. Concerns were raised about the management of the event on Sunday with some people seen being carried over barriers to get out of the concert area after becoming distressed.
An announcer on stage said the concert would not be able to begin until people had spread out and stated the organisers did not expect the event to be as busy as it was. The organisers later clarified that numbers were within those expected as it was a ticketed event.
Last month, it was revealed the cost of providing security for the duration of the song contest had more than doubled. More than £365,000 is to be spent on staff for the Pier Head fan village and ACC Liverpool throughout May.
Funding for the additional security services has been made available by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) grant money. According to the council’s contract documents, a further £53,000 was required on traffic management during Sunday’s major outdoor gig while £37,444 was used for traffic stewards.
The cost of the site and production totalled £43,740 with a contract for safety management valued at more than £11,000, while a similar amount was spent on the event’s PA systems. Medical teams from Mersey Medical Services were recruited for almost £17,000.
More than £63,000 was spent providing the vast amount of fencing to cordon off the area outside St George’s Hall along Lime Street, which bore the Eurovision colours and branding throughout the show. Additional contracts worth £115,000 - for crew catering and the hire of space - were also awarded but their final totals are not known.
Liverpool Council is also putting its hand in the public purse for the Eurovision village at the Pier Head, with £15,000 going towards pyrotechnics. Northamptonshire-based firm Titanium Fireworks have secured the tender on this occasion.
It was confirmed in December the city council would contribute £2m of its own money towards the staging of Eurovision, which has been match funded by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Further funding is to be provided for the staging of Eurovision by external sources, such as the BBC, European Broadcasting Union and government.
This is thought to be in the region of around £10m. The figure of £2m is capped for the council and 70% will be from earmarked reserves for Covid-19 sector recovery as well as contributions from the city’s culture budget.
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