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Culture

Liverpool's Big Year of Culture

January 8, 2008 at 9:35 AM | 0 Comments

Europe is hosting dual Capitals of Culture again this year, with Norway's Stavanger and Sandnes lining up next to Liverpool to show the world their best during 2008. We're quite excited that Liverpool won the right to be a European Capital of Culture during its 800th birthday celebrations and wanted to remind you of the grand opening events taking place this weekend.

This Friday at just after 8 pm (symbolically at 20:08, to be precise), the People's Opening kicks off to launch the year. There'll be rooftop performances, dancing cranes and containers and even Ringo Starr will be performing. On Saturday the big show, Liverpool the Musical begins, but tickets were already allocated through an international ballot, so unless you know the right people, you're outta luck.

Throughout the rest of Liverpool's reign there are dozens and dozens of events to get to: the Leap dance festival in March, the Lord Mayor's Parade and the African Festival in June and from July to October, you can catch "The Beat Goes On" exhibition at the World Museum Liverpool, showcasing the city's influential music scene from pre-Beatles until today.

Speaking of music, if you can wait until December, one of the most interesting events on the program sounds like "The Rightful Owners of the Song," when pub singers and karaoke hosts will get together with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. That should take some of the cringe factor out of your standard karaoke performance.

Related Stories:
· Liverpool 08 [Official Site]
· Happy Birthday Liverpool [Jaunted]
· Liverpool Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Elena Romera]