2022 saw life return slowly back to somewhat ‘normal’, with large scale cultural events happening once again on the streets of Liverpool – mindful of the fact that a large number of our communities were still shielding.
So how would 2022 play out, emerging from a global pandemic?
Chinese New Year
Featuring a series of in person and digital events, Chinese new Year 2022 celebrated the Year of the Tiger. Complete with a free, traditional weekend celebration featuring the popular Unicorn and Lion dancers’ parade, firecrackers, funfair, concessions and traditional Chinese traders the event was popular with attendees enjoying street theatre animation and family focused workshops.
In addition to fun throughout the day, a projection show on St Luke’s Bombed Out Church took place of an evening throughout the weekend delighting attendees.
Visible Virals
A riot of colour, art, light, games and events celebrated the reliance of the communities across the city during the pandemic over the last two years.
Working with local creatives to run a series of community-based workshops to develop the visuals and messages which reflected the experiences of the city’s residents, the words of our communities were translated into artworks displayed around the city in both North and South Liverpool as well as the city centre in various printed and digital formats including projections on both local neighbourhood and iconic venues.
This collaborative approach between culture, creatives, NHS, service and education providers, communities, universities, businesses and football clubs has enabled community regeneration, pride and industry profile which has continued past the end date of the programme.
Liverpool Against Racism
A brand new festival landed in Liverpool in 2022 to take a stand against racism. Championed by the Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson, Liverpool Against Racism (LAR) took place in April and featured specially commissioned music and cultural events to stimulate conversations about, and action against, racism. With a focus on community cohesion, it provided a platform for people and organisations to creatively respond to hate crime.
Running for a week, from Saturday 23 to Saturday 30 April, the programming team created plans that would see live talks and debates as well as music and cultural events taking place across the city, featuring a diverse line up of local, national and international individuals and organisations invested in the charge for change.
The ambition for LAR is to set Liverpool apart as a city that doesn’t shy away from addressing the issue of racism and to celebrate diversity in all of its forms.
LFC Homecoming Parade
Liverpool Football Club (LFC) took their victory parade to the city in May to celebrate both the men’s and women’s teams coming home with Championship trophies. In true Liverpool style, thousands lined the streets to provide a welcome home like no other.
Taste Ramadan
Organised by the Liverpool Regional Mosque Network, this event was supported by Culture Liverpool. Targeted at a mixed audience, this free event on the Pier Head involved partnerships with local mosques, Merseyside Police, faith leaders of differing religions, other local authorities, local businesses, football clubs and the nationwide initiative #TasteRamadan.
Taste Liverpool, Drink Bordeaux
Over the four-day Jubilee weekend, the inaugural Taste Liverpool, Drink Bordeaux took place in some of Liverpool’s most iconic locations in a celebration of the city’s food and drink scene.
With more than 50 participating restaurants, café’s, food halls and bars, visitors enjoyed a delicious long weekend celebrating the city’s famous hospitality culture. Beginning a new chapter for Liverpool as a globally renown gastronomic destination, the festival united Liverpool’s thriving food and drink scene with Bordeaux, which has over 6,000 vineyards producing a sumptuous selection of red, white, sparkling and rosé wines.
Good Business Festival: Youth Summit
The Good Business Festival Youth Summit was held in May after being postponed a number of times due to COVID restrictions. This formed part of Knowsley’s Borough of Culture celebrations and was held at the Knowsley Leisure and Culture Park.
Over 500 primary schools from within the LCR attend on the first day and over 300 secondary schools attended for the second day. This was hosted by Chris Packham and a number of local arts organisations were involved in delivering workshops to the students throughout the day. The summit was hugely popular with schools and was very well received.
Remembering April Ashley
May also saw a celebration of life held at St George’s Hall for the late April Ashley MBE. In partnership with the estate of April Ashley, over 100 invited guests were in attendance to pay their respects.
April was an iconic figure in Liverpool’s history. As one of Britain’s first transsexual women to undergo gender reassignment surgery, April Ashley’s story – which began in this, her home city – has had a tremendous impact on the trans community and people across the globe.
Jubilee Beacons
As part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, 7 beacons were lit in front of the Three Graces on the Pier Head to symbolise each decade that the Queen had reigned.
Marking each decade of her sovereignty, the two-metre-high, copper gas beacons were lit alongside a special musical moment including a stirring live performance by Pipe Major James Axon and the Liverpool Scottish Regional Association band, along with Mezzo Soprano Danielle Louise Thomas.
The RedBall Project Liverpool
This year we welcomed Kurt Perschke’s RedBall Project to Liverpool – an inflatable mobile sculpture which moved around the city over ten days, ‘appearing’ in a new location each day acting as a short, daily art installation.
Covering 10 city neighbourhood locations, this was a premier event for the North West!
Mandela Day
As part of a week-long celebration of the Mandela family visiting the city, a family friendly festival in Princes Park was held in July – featuring artistic performances, various stalls and a music stage with performances from both African and local artists programmed by Africa Oyé.
With special guests, Dr Makaziwe ‘Maki’ Mandela (eldest daughter of Nelson Mandela) and her daughter Tukwini Mandela, this was the first event of this nature to be held in Princes Park with around 3,000 attendees on the day. The event was organised by Mandela8 with operational support managed by Culture Liverpool.
To mark this special day, the city once again lit venues in yellow to show their support for international awareness of Mandela Day. Alongside this and as a unique moment for the city’s history, we were also proud to to host an ‘In Conversation with the Mandela’s’ event at St George’s Hall – where a room has been permanently named after Nelson Mandela to house a display of limited edition artwork by Mandela himself.
Liverpool International Music Festival
LIMF returned this year under the theme “power to the people and purpose” recognising that society has awakened to the need for social justice, equality, equity and true inclusion, LIMF celebrated those trailblazing people, movements and music genres that have changed the game by manifesting that the power is in the people.
In a new move for our LIMF event, without the mass outdoor multi-stage festival, LIMF ‘22 was a more nuanced programme that took place across city centre at important venues and spaces. Encompassing international and national household names alongside new voices and emerging sounds, the festival took off from where it left off in 2019, but with a decidedly different ambition featuring 121 hours of performance and 334 performers
An exiting event as usual, the event was a mix of free events and ticketed gigs which saw UB40, De La Soul, Heather Small and The Zutons perform. In a change to previous years, the entire festival took place in city centre venues in a bid to re-energise and support the city’s music sector which was severely impacted by the COVID -19 pandemic.
Youth Violence Vigil
Hosted at Liverpool Cathedral, the Youth Violence Vigil aimed to bring together the family and friends of those who had been impacted by violent crimes. This is the second time the event has been supported by the Mayor of Liverpool and Culture Liverpool.
Featuring live music performances, readings and speeches, attendees were encouraged to light a candle and contribute to the book of condolence before and after the event.
Black History Month
Titled ‘Let’s Talk about Race’, this years Black History Month was made up of arts, heritage, culture, and community activists and programmed in partnership with stakeholders across Liverpool.
Working with partners, we added a full events programme to the already popular Cultural calendar as well as under a dedicated resource for the public to find specific Black History Month events and activities.
2022 had already been very busy in the city, with many events having already taken place including the inaugural launch of Liverpool Against Racism, the WoWFest, Africa Oyé’s 30th anniversary celebrations, the Mandela family visit, the Freedom Festival by Mandel8, NML Slavery Remembrance Day and so much more.
This year, we celebrated the power of words through storytelling and factual accounts. The city welcomed a visit from the US by Dr Julius Garvey MD, son of civil rights activist Rt. Honourable Marcus Mosiah Garvey. A special commission by Jernice Easthope was also produced, reflecting on Black women in culture and how they are changing the world and WoWfest opened with Linton Kwesi Johnson. Other festivals included BlackFest, Liverpool Irish Festival and The Gravity Festival.
Service of Remembrance
For the first time in three years the city’s annual Service of Remembrance returned to St George’s Plateau, as the city fell silent and thousands of people gathered to remember those who lost their lives during two world wars and conflicts around the world since. This year’s event also reflected on the important role personnel play in the UK armed forces.
Following the moments silence, a traditional wreath-laying and service took place with civic, Military and religious leaders, and a parade marched from St George’s Plateau to salute the Cenotaph – accompanied by falling poppy petals from the roof of St George’s Hall.
In addition to the annual service, the Hall of Remembrance at Liverpool Town Hall displayed letters and birthday cards written by Liverpool mothers to their sons who were serving during the Battle of the Atlantic. It included the poignant ‘voices’ of ordinary Merseyside families caught up in the upheaval, grief, and uncertainty of World War II.
Image Credit: Stratus Imagery
River Of Light
Taking place over 17 nights with ten large scale light and sound-based installations, River of Light returned to the Liverpool city centre streets. This year, we collaborated with Liverpool-based charity Make Bank to curate a creative education programme that paired a participating artist with either a school, community group, university or youth club.
Working with local, national, and international artists, we brought artworks of scale and ambition to the city – two of the displayed artists had never worked in light prior to their installations in Liverpool!
Clinically Extremely Vulnerable Support
Following the global pandemic lots of residents felt uncomfortable attending events and cultural activities, so a number of specially designed projects were created to help vulnerable residents transition out of shielding – focusing on the physical and emotional well-being of people previously advised to shield and where possible support greater independence.
The programme complemented and enhanced the City Council’s Recovery Pledge to create safe, sustainable, and inspiring neighbourhoods with greater community involvement.
