I’ve just seen the wrap up video for our Modern Music Cities conference and it reminded me of what a great day it was. Sometimes when you are so wrapped up in the planning and delivery of an event it is hard to tell if it is working but throughout the whole day there was a real buzz which left me in no doubt that everyone was enjoying the day.
It was one of those occasions when everything came together and made for an almost perfect event that everybody seemed to love and get fully engaged with.
It had all began a few months earlier when in the midst of preparing for Eurovision, the city’s Director of Culture, Claire McColgan, approached myself and my colleague Yaw Owusu about putting together a post Eurovision event which looked at Liverpool as Music City with a simple provocation of what makes a modern music city at a time when the music industry is increasingly digital and you can listen to pretty much any music from anywhere in the world at the touch of a button on your phone.
I think the subject became even more relevant after the success of Eurovision. Audiences all over the world saw a city that fully embraced and celebrated music as it hosted the event on behalf of Ukraine. It was without doubt the biggest, best and most well received Eurovision ever and it was clear to the world that the whole of Liverpool and all its diverse communities were engaged and proud to be part of something which provided a platform to show off our wonderful city. In short Eurovision didn’t change Liverpool, Liverpool has changed Eurovision forever.
But what makes Liverpool great is that we are never insular. We didn’t want a day that just told people how good we were. As with Eurovision we wanted to welcome people to the city and share experiences and learning with them.
Yaw and I started off with a wish list of speakers and astonishingly we were able to get almost all of them. The result was a day packed full of brilliant keynote speakers and panels that brought together diverse experiences and opinions in a series of fascinating debates.
The panels and the speakers were so good that unlike at many events, particularly those that take place on a Friday, everybody stayed around for the full day. When we broke for teas/coffees lunch you could feel the energy around the room as people carried on the discussions provoked by the formal sessions, connected to new people, or reconnected with old friends.
The feedback we had on the day and following week was amazing and I think the following two quotes sum it up perfectly:
“What a line-up of superbly curated, diverse and global balance of industry experts, government, big music platforms, and musicians – enjoyable, inspiring and laser sharp”
“What a great event that was – great programming, lovely venue and wonderful hospitality”
As mentioned earlier, the event came about because of Eurovision and the impact of the event and how it showcased Liverpool’s music city status was writ large throughout the day. It started with a welcome address from Claire McColgan who set the scene perfectly with her passion when she talked about how the city came to deliver the best Eurovision ever. Later in the day Matt Ashton, Director of Public Health for Liverpool, set out how the city is measuring the impact of those magical two weeks of Eurovision and made us all eager to see what the full evaluation report has to offer when it is released in the autumn. The day finished on a high with a premier screening of Rise Like A Phoenix, which was introduced by its Director Carl Hunter. It’s a beautiful stylish, short film that celebrates Eurovision fandom and of course, Liverpool.
Huge thanks to DCMS, ACE and all the team from Culture Liverpool who made it such a success
Kev McManus, Head of UNESCO City of Music, Culture Liverpool
