One year ago, Liverpool found out that a milestone moment in the city’s history was about to become a reality.
Following an intense, competitive bidding process, Liverpool had leapfrogged 20 other cities to be named the official host city for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 on behalf of Ukraine.
It was a seminal moment that kick-started an unprecedented, fast-paced programme of curation, development and event delivery, which, ultimately, resulted in Liverpool being regarded as the best-ever Eurovision host city.
In Liverpool, we have spent the past 15 years, since our European Capital of Culture status, honing our reputation as a world leader at staging large-scale, outdoor events. But Eurovision was different: we were delivering it on behalf of a country at war.
From the start of Russia’s illegal invasion of a proud sovereign nation, the people of Liverpool stood in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. In Eurovision, we were able to find a particular expression of that solidarity: united by music.
Our twin city of Odesa, from the frontline of Russian bombardment, lent direct support for hosting responsibility – understanding the opportunity that Eurovision provided for a unique expression of international support for their culture and sovereignty.
Twinning cities may seem an old-fashioned, tokenistic gesture – an exchange of certificates, some warm words, but nothing tangible. But here was an opportunity to give twinning a new purpose.
Since the outbreak of the war, we have reached out to our Odesian friends, showing our solidarity with their plight and offering support where we can.
Over the past 12 months, this relationship has deepened, the Mayor of Odesa and his team guiding us when needed, to ensure that the Ukraine thread ran through everything we were delivering as a Eurovision host city.
“Twinning is so much more than a piece of paper”
Knowing we did our twin city, and the rest of Ukraine, proud makes every second of that whirlwind planning and delivery period worthwhile.
Even during the bidding process, however, we were looking at the potential legacy of hosting this competition: we were focused on strengthening our relationship with Odesa from the start.
In April, Liverpool’s magnificent Central Library was formally twinned with Odesa’s Regional Scientific Library in a historic ceremony attended by HM King Charles and the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska.
We are now exploring ways in which these two venues can work together to educate visitors about each other’s home cities.
Liverpool is further cementing this friendship with a historic memorandum of understanding, which commits to work with Odesa to support the protection and rebuilding of its cultural infrastructure.
Odesa has a special role in Ukrainian culture and history, with a unique collection of historic buildings and cultural institutions, now under sustained threat.
Just as Russia seeks to obliterate Ukraine’s cultural identity, Ukraine’s international friends can respond by reinvigorating its cultural links with the wider world, and standing with them in the defence of their historic and cultural infrastructure.
We are honoured to be asked to use the creative talent and expertise in Liverpool in such a profound way, and we are excited to see how these conversations progress.
For us, twinning is a pivotal part of a local authority’s civic function and is so much more than just a piece of paper. It can be powerful, ambitious, progressive and truly transformative.