Liverpool European Capital of Culture

In 2003, Liverpool was awarded the designation of European City of Culture 2008 (ECoC). It was a pivotal moment in the city’s history, according to Claire McColgan, Liverpool’s current Director of Culture, who says that residents divide their narrative of the city into “pre and post” 2008. In focus groups conducted in 2018, residents were keen to share their memories of the events in which they had participated. McColgan explained that the Council has a role to play in “managing the memory” of an event in order to create a story that unites the city:

“We can tell a story like no one else – a skill we have finely honed over the past 20 years. And that’s what gives the activities we stage an authenticity and connection, and provides a true legacy for a city long after an event has finished.”

Of course, any attempt to create a unifying narrative risks simplifying the story and alienating a cultural community which was in existence long before 2008, especially if they did not feel part of the ECoC project. McColgan says:

“Community was at the heart of everything we did back then and continues to be now. Nearly 20 years on from winning the European Capital of Culture title we continue to keep the conversation alive around the importance of culture and events – and it goes from strength-to-strength each year. The initial scepticism that was prevalent ahead of our cultural year was blown away within hours of our celebrations getting underway, and we have kept this cynicism at bay, thanks to our continual investment in culture which tells the story of Liverpool’s present and future.”

Although already internationally famous for its cultural exports – McColgan says that Liverpool’s reputation is perhaps stronger internationally than within the UK – the ECoC designation also provided a major boost to Liverpool’s visitor economy, with 9.7 million additional visitors attracted to the city in 2008, making up 35% of all visits to the city.

Liverpool’s Institute of Cultural Capital has also explored the role of the City of Culture year as a touchstone and, in 2018, held a two-day international symposium, Impacts18, bringing together evidence about the Capitals of Culture programme a decade on.

The focus groups and surveys conducted as part of Impacts18 indicated that many residents could identify lasting impacts on the way they viewed culture and their city in general. 42% of residents stated that the ECoC had introduced them to new or different cultural activities, and more than 1 in 4 residents agreed that, ten years on, they actually participate in arts.