Culture Liverpool , the council ’ s event-planning arm , was established after the city was declared Liverpool Capital of Culture in 2008 . It says Liverpool ’ s leisure , creative and cultural industries now supports around 60,000 jobs and brings in £ 3.3bn each year – 38 % of the city ’ s economy .
Culture Liverpool city events manager Susan Lees , who moved to the city in 2005 , says that since she arrived there the city has not only experienced considerable regeneration and development of its infrastructure , the cultural scene has gone from strength to strength : “ Obviously everyone has taken a beating during the past two years but we ’ ve seen that culture is being used as a driver of economic rebirth and regeneration in the city .”
Encouraging progress Lees says that aside from creating and running its own events in the city , Culture Liverpool works hard to encourage and support other event promoters , such as independent festival organisers , to bring shows to Liverpool .
As the 2022 events season takes shape , Lees says there is good reason for optimism : “ We ’ ve seen a huge
ERP Events were a great success
increase in activity in the past few weeks with inquiries and people coming to us with plans for us to take to the safety advisory group . It ’ s very encouraging and I think 2022 is going to be a very good year for live events in the city .”
She agrees with Ashton that one of the main reasons Liverpool was chosen by the Department for Culture Media and Sport to host
“ Liverpool has tried to be bold and proactive throughout the whole pandemic .” - Liverpool City Council
director of public health Prof Matthew Ashton
the pilot events was that Culture Liverpool had been hugely proactive in the previous months , pivoting to deliver a shielding food programme that involved sending out 8,500 food parcels , and delivering a mass Covid-19 testing programme .
The progress of the Liverpool City Region Music Board since its launch at the start of 2019 has been hindered by the pandemic , but it is now focused
on ensuring music businesses and professionals have a stronger voice in local and regional decision-making .
The 18 board members are tasked with five key priorities , identified through the council ’ s music strategy report . They include supporting the growth and development of a sustainable music tourism offer across the city region , increasing equality and diversity , and maintaining a strong network of venues .
Kevin McManus , who works with the board and is head of UNESCO City of Music at Culture Liverpool , says it was set up to support the growth of a sector that people had begun to recognise was important not just culturally , but also economically : “ It ’ s about celebrating what we ’ ve already got , which is brilliant , and how we look at where the gaps are and how to fix any issues .”
On Liverpool gaining the title of UNESCO City of Music , McManus says , “ We already knew we were a city of music , it was just to add that strapline and badge . In terms of what it does for live music in the
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