Eurovision 2023: Full details of EuroFestival - including beautiful bird trail and Ukrainian musicians
The festival of art and music has been described as a ‘Scouse/Ukrainian mashup of brilliance’.
EuroFestival has announced the full details of its cultural extravaganza taking over Liverpool in the lead up to the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.
Running from Monday 1 May to Sunday 14 May, the festival features 24 commissions - 19 of which are collaborations between UK and Ukrainian artists – that will transform the city.
A mix of music and art, the commissions range from a beautiful, large-scale bird trail, to a musical supergroup made up of artists from Liverpool and Ukraine.
Location: EuroFestival will be presented in public spaces and leading art venues such as Bluecoat, Chavasse Park, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, Everyman Theatre, Unity Theatre, Everyman Cinema, Open Eye Gallery, Exchange Flags, Liverpool One, Content, TATE, Invisible Wind Factory, Museum of Liverpool and Tower Grounds New Brighton.
Look out for: Soloveiko Songbirds willl see 12, large scale, light-up nightingales located around the city. Each songbird will be designed with unique plumage and accompanied by bespoke audio soundscapes to represent different regions of Ukraine, and make up a beautiful trail which can be followed by the public over the two-week festival.
What has been said: “No other Eurovision host city has ever curated a creative programme of such scale and scope,” says Claire McColgan CBE, Director of Culture Liverpool. “It’s a programme of glorious brilliance, made by artists with open hearts and the will and commitment to present a show in less than five months, to reach across countries and genres and to produce this Scouse/Ukrainian mashup of brilliance.”
Below are the full details of EuroFestival’s amazing commissions.
1. Soloveiko Songbirds
Soloveiko Songbirds, will see 12, large scale, light-up nightingales located around the city. Each songbird will be designed with unique plumage and accompanied by bespoke audio soundscapes to represent different regions of Ukraine. When viewed collectively, the Songbirds will make up a beautiful trail which can be followed by the public over the two-week festival.
2. Protect the Beats
Surrounded by thousands of sandbags to replicate the way statues in Ukraine are being protected from bombardment, the Nelson Monument, located in Exchange Flags, will host Protect the Beats. Within the structure will be 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.
3. Chornobyldorf
A contemporary media-opera inspired by the impact of nuclear power on our world, Chornobyldorf is a post-apocalyptic fantasy. It combines folk and classical singing with physical theatre, dance, unique musical instruments and cinematic video-novels. It will be hosted at the Invisible Wind Factory.
4. LGBTQI+ festival
Fans will be able to experience EuroCamp presents…, an LGBTQI+ focussed three-day festival in Chavasse Park featuring drag, performance, choreography, vogue, music, carnival, circus and more. Xpressia Festival, an underground counterculture festival, will be brought to life in several locations across Liverpool. Storyville Live, will see the award-winning documentary series stage its first ever film festival at the Everyman Cinema, celebrating both Ukrainian and music documentaries, whilst HOME will showcase Ukrainian photographers examining the concept of ‘Home’ at the Open Eye Gallery, accompanied by a new collection of poetry from leading names. Over the course of the two week period there will also be Queerovision, an online commission showing digital video reportage of Liverpool’s Queer Fringe throughout the festival period, and The People’s Flag, a mass participation dance event. The Big Eurovision Read, is a national project with The Reading Agency choosing a shortlist of books inspired by the theme of ‘United by Music’.