Sport is to be at the heart of Liverpool's plans as European Capital of Culture 2008.

The city unveiled an action-packed sports programme today (Friday, 27 January) - backed by almost every sporting institution on Merseyside - and immediately won government praise as a major boost for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Liverpool Culture Company and Liverpool City Council, with partners across Merseyside, have combined forces to launch the UK's biggest multi-sports deal, involving new international events, as well as initiatives to boost community sports participation.

And the strategy will kick into life the following day (Saturday, 28 January) with a new fixture - the Liverpool 08 Challenge - between Rugby League rivals - Widnes Vikings and St Helens, at Halton Stadium.

Highlights of the European Capital of Culture Sports Strategy include marketing deals such as shirt sponsorships, pitch-side advertising, regular updates and adverts in match programmes and websites to publicise 2008 with:

Tranmere Rovers FC
St Helen's RLFC
Widnes Vikings RLFC
Waterloo RUFC
New Brighton RUFC

This deal will ensure the 08 message will be taken to tens of thousands of people in stadia across Merseyside and almost every major town and city in the UK on a weekly basis. The deal will generate millions of pounds in publicity with St Helen's alone set to appear on TV over 20 times.

A key element of the strategy involves staging new and improving existing events, such as:

Liverpool 08 Rugby League Challenge: Widnes v St Helens, Halton Stadium, Jan 28.
European Wheelchair Basketball Cup qualifiers: Greenbank Academy, March 11-12.
Inaugural Liverpool 08 Open Squash Tournament: St George's Hall, May 1-6. Broadcast on Sky Sports. This is a world ranking PSA Super Series Silver event - the biggest in Europe and one of the top six in the world.
Liverpool International Tennis Tournament: Calderstones Park, June 13-18. Due to increased funding, 2006 will see an extra day's action. Final on Sky Sports.

Homecoming of the Clipper 05-06 Race: River Mersey, July 1-2. Broadcast on Transworld Sport.
Start of North West stage Cycle Tour of Great Britain: August 30: Broadcast on BBC Grandstand on September 3. Three-year deal with tour finish in 2008.

Final Grand Prix Honda Formula 4-Stroke race series: River Mersey, Sep 9-10. Scheduled for Sky Sports and Channel 4.

There are also further marketing and sponsorship deals with:

The Grand National: Aintree Racecourse - April 4-6 - Live BBC 1.
The Open Championship: Royal Liverpool - July 20-23 - Live BBC 1 & 2.
Everton FC and Liverpool FC with future proposals to develop for 2008.

Liverpool Cricket Club: Lancashire v Sussex Frizzell County Championship

LINK.

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 29, 2006 09:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Liverpool Performs as LIPA turns 10

THE WORLD-RENOWNED Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) will celebrate its tenth anniversary next week, with a joint event that will also launch Liverpool Performs 2006 - the fourth Capital of Culture themed year.

On Monday 30 January - ten years to the day since LIPA's inauguration - nearly 250 LIPA students and graduates will take part in a gala performance at Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall.

The performance will also herald the official launch of Liverpool Performs 2006 - a twelve month celebration of Liverpool's outstanding track record in the arts, sport and business - the latest in a series of themed years leading up to European Capital of Culture in 2008.

LIPA itself is one of the city's best known success stories, committed to its aim of providing high-quality teaching to prepare students for sustained careers in the industry, either as performers or those who make performance possible. Currently, 1,250 people are taught at LIPA each year.

Sir Paul McCartney, co-founder of LIPA, will be taking part in a joint press conference to mark the event. He said: "I always feel great pride in LIPA - sheer pride in the students and their talent.

"The dream we had to save my old school and turn it into something really worthwhile has happened. I find it very moving."

Cllr Warren Bradley, leader of Liverpool City Council, said: "It is extremely fitting that we launch Liverpool Performs on the tenth birthday of LIPA - a national institution which is now a standard bearer for the way the new Liverpool invests in and trains talent to enable people to perform at the highest level.

"Liverpool Performs 2006 will be a year-long celebration of the city's tremendous achievements in the field of performance. The programme for the year includes the first artistic works to be produced by the Liverpool Culture Company which will appear under the theme of City in Transition (CiT), taking inspiration from the tremendous changes currently taking place in the city.

"It promises to be an action-packed twelve months."

Key events for 2006 include the launch of 08 businessconnect - a new Capital of Culture business
forum designed to help local companies get involved in the build-up to 2008; Liverpool's first Disability Sports Festival; the Open Golf Championship returning to Royal Liverpool for the first time in nearly forty years; and the fourth Liverpool Biennial International Festival of Contemporary Art.

Professor Drummond Bone, chairman of the Liverpool Culture Company said: "Liverpool Performs 2006 will be a chance to focus on how the city is developing in arts, sport and business.

"The regeneration of Liverpool is seeing a resurgence of activity in all three spheres - on the stage, the field and in the boardroom.

"LIPA's success over the last decade is testament to Liverpool's status as a centre of excellence for performing arts, and we are delighted to be launching our activity for 2006 with such a thriving member of the city's cultural community."

Mark Featherstone-Witty, LIPA's founding principal and chief executive, said: "For Paul McCartney and myself, this is a moment we could only but imagine ten years ago.

"We remember when we had to describe and enthuse people about a reality that didn't exist. Now ten years on we have one of the highest application rates of any UK Higher Education Institution (HEI). People come to us from some 38 countries and make up a third of our student body - the fourth highest percentage of any HEI in the country.

"For me though, it is the graduates' achievements that make me most proud. With three-quarters of any leaving year still traceable still working in the arts and entertainment economies three years after leaving.

"As Churchill once said, 'It's the end of the beginning'."

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 26, 2006 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From Liverpool Daily Post....

Lancs extend Aigburth agreement until 2008 Jan 23 2006
By Paul Edwards Daily Post Correspondent

MERSEYSIDE cricket fans already looking forward to Lancashire's match against Sussex in June were given further good news this week when it was revealed that the county has also agreed to play at Aigburth in 2007 and 2008.

Preparations for this year's four-day fixture are already well under way but Liverpool CC chairman, Peter McEvoy, explained that the agreement to play future games at the club was particularly welcome.
"There seem to be fewer county matches at outgrounds each year so we are very pleased to be hosting Lancashire matches over the next three seasons.

"We have received invaluable support from both Liverpool City Council and European Capital of Culture officials and we are very grateful for their help."

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 23, 2006 07:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From the Liverpool Daily Post...

Tranmere to wear 08 logo Jan 21 2006
By Paula Owens Daily Post Correspondent

TRANMERE Rovers has won a second shirt sponsorship deal with the Liverpool Culture Company.
As part of the new arrangement, the 08 European Capital of Culture logo is to appear on the back of Tranmere players' shirts and shorts until the end of the current season.

The previous deal, announced in May 2005, proved controversial amongst some supporters who did not want to see the word "Liverpool" emblazoned across their team's strip.

The new deal has been set up as part of "2006: Liverpool Performs", a year-long celebration of Merseyside's reputation for top class performance in sport, the arts and business.

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 23, 2006 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LIVERPOOL'S film and TV industry continues to boom.

New figures from the city council's Film Office - part of North West Vision - reveal they organised the equivalent of 632 days of filming during 2005 - beating the previous record of 612 days of filming in 2003.

Staff assisted with an incredible 182 productions last year, while the number of enquiries from producers rocketed by 38 percent to 250.

Productions shot in the city in 2005 included:

* Beyond Friendship - A feature film starring Winona Ryder and Tom Conti about a friendship between a Jewish and an Arab man. The Brunswick Street area of the city centre was used to depict 1940's New York. Trials Hotel was used for interior shots.

* Karim's Story - a TV drama for Channel Four shot in Garston Under the Bridge which will be a key element of their 2006 schedule.

* Eleventh Hour - A sci-fi thriller for ITV Granada focusing on catastrophes caused by modern science, starring Patrick Stewart. Castle Street and Formby Beach were used for filming.

* BBC One children's TV series Grange Hill and Channel Four's Hollyoaks.

During the last 12 months, TV commercials for HP Sauce and Bisto were shot in the city, along with pop videos for The Coral, Ms Dynamite, Liz McLarnon and Natasha Hamilton.

And 2006 is getting off to an equally promising start, with filming now underway on 'Across the Universe'. It is a romantic musical set in the 1960's told through Beatles songs. Made by Revolution Films which is part of Columbia Pictures, it is the largest scale production ever shot in Liverpool with more than 150 extras are taking part in some of the scenes being shot in the docks area, Wavertree and New Brighton.

Film Office manager Lynn Saunders is delighted: "We've now earned a reputation as a film friendly city and every week we receive enquiries from producers both home and abroad.

"We are already dealing with some extremely promising enquiries from production companies and I am confident that the success will continue in 2006.

"We are in the process of placing our locations database online, which allows producers from around the world to see what Liverpool has to offer at the click of a mouse."

The Film Office estimates that hundreds of people were employed on productions, giving a multi million pound boost to the local economy and benefiting businesses such as hotels, taxi firms and caterers. Local spending on one of the productions totalled more than half a million pounds.

Alice Morrison, Chief Executive of North West Vision, the TV and film agency who works to promote Liverpool and the rest of the north west as a film location, added: "Liverpool is a world heritage city and has incredibly cinematic locations, so it is no surprise that film makers continue to descend on the city.

"Filming generates job opportunities and brings in inward investment, so it is important we continue looking at new ways to increase filming across the city."

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 20, 2006 10:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

KNOWSLEY ON BOARD THE FRIEND SHIP

KNOWSLEY schools are the latest to climb aboard the Friend Ship, a magical project for primary aged children.

The Friend Ship is a portable "ship" which sails from school to school, packed full of cultural treasure troves. It has already reached 25,000 pupils in 100 primary schools in Liverpool, as part of the city's build-up to the European Capital of Culture year in 2008.

Friend Ship has been developed by the Liverpool Culture Company and is managed by Creative schools officer Kathy Heywood. Kathy said: "The Friend Ship is Liverpool's gift to the rest of the region and we're so pleased that Knowsley has jumped on board. They will have a fantastic time, as well as learning a lot about being good citizens. We're welcoming other schools to sign up right across Merseyside so they can join in the fun!"

If schools want to get involved in the Merseyside project, they should contact Alexa Mearns on 0151 233 1103 or visit www.liverpool08.com.

A second ship is also touring nine other cities in the UK. The Government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport were so impressed by Friend Ship that they provided £250,000 towards sailing the second ship from shore to shore.

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 18, 2006 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OK, here's your chance to show you can do a better job than the current part-timer.
Don't fancy the job myself - even for £150,000 per year.

From liverpool08.com...
Chief Executive
Salary: circa £150,000
Ref:CUL/3008/2635
Closing date: 3 February 2006

The European Capital of Culture 2008 represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Liverpool to reposition
itself as a world-class city.

The Liverpool Culture Company is looking for a Chief Executive who is a talented self-motivated strategic
thinker to lead the organisation towards and through to 2008. The successful applicant should have a high
level of interpersonal and communication skills, capacity to lead and support others, a high level of
competence in commercial and business management coordination combined with strong leadership skills.

The successful applicant will take the lead working with partners and stakeholders to take full advantage of
this opportunity to reposition Liverpool locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

The candidate will have at least five years' experience in a senior management role at national and
international level and preferably with knowledge of large-scale events.

For an application form and recruitment brochure please call the Human Resource and Payroll Service Centre on 0151 233 3003.

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 18, 2006 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Liverpool Clipper has finished the latest leg of the Round The World Yacht Race in fourth place.
The Capital of Culture team was beaten by the Durban Clipper, which was first to cross the finish line in Keppel Bay, Singapore, on Sunday morning.

The Western Australia team came second, with New York coming in third.

The race, which takes place in seven sections, set off from the Albert Dock in September and is expected to return to Liverpool in July 2006.

Liverpool 08 transfered fuel to New York on Saturday as the fleet continued to motor towards Singapore after Race 5 was curtailed due to light winds.

New York Skipper Joff Bailey writes:
The fuel transfer was required because New York have had to run their generator or engine almost constantly since leaving Fremantle due to battery problems and combined with some dirty fuel and the 700 mile motor from the early finish, I thought it prudent to request a few additional cans from Liverpool 08.

Althought the race is competitive each of the skippers and crews are more than willing to help each other out when needed.

Liverpool 08 is still in 3rd position overall. Take a look at the excellent clipper-ventures website for the latest details.

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 15, 2006 01:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

from the Daily Post....

LIVERPOOL'S 800th birthday is less than 12 months away.

And culture bosses say they are determined the city's historic sites will be central to both the 2007 festivities and 2008.

Yesterday it was revealed a slice of £10m government money for Capital of Culture would go towards cleaning up the city's historic architecture.

Council leader Warren Bradley said: "2008 presents a fantastic opportunity for Liverpool to showcase its unique cultural heritage, but equally our historical monuments and assets need to be in the best possible condition.

Full story.

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 14, 2006 06:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From liverpool08 website...

Join Liverpool's Chinese community in celebration of 2006 Year of the Dog.

This cultural event is a great opportunity to take in the startling variety of Chinese food and the traditional delicacies of New Year's celebrations in a city which has one of the oldest Chinese communities in Europe.

Celebrations start at 11am, prepare to be dazzled by the mesmerising sight of dragon, unicorn and lion dancing, as well as special firecracker performances and Tai Chi demonstrations.

Starts: 29/01/2006 11:00:00
Location: Chinese Arch, Nelson Street

ALSO
Activities at Liverpool World Museum and Maritime Museum and the Chinese Pagoda Community Centre.
Details on the Art In Liverpool Blog

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 11, 2006 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Culture Company's Creative Communities 'Art of Inclusion' report is available to download from their webpage.
Link: http://www.liverpool08.com/CreativeCommunities/index.asp

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 10, 2006 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The January edition of the 08 Update which includes features on the Liverpool Culture Company's activity in the last 12 months. We've seen a unique mix of large-scale events and local community-based projects and activities.

Download the pdf file from this Link: http://www.liverpool08.com/News/Newsletter/index.asp

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 10, 2006 02:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Excellent!

From Daily Post...

A priceless treasure trove of Chinese art will give a silver lining to Liverpool's Capital of Culture celebrations in 2008.

Hundreds of glittering exhibits from the legendary Forbidden City will provide a direct link between Liverpool and Beijing, which is hosting the Olympic Games the same year.
The show is described as the best display of Chinese art ever seen in the UK and also celebrates Liverpool as home to Europe's oldest Chinese community.
The six-month show will reveal life behind the scenes in China's historic imperial palace.
The exhibits include Buddhas, temple hangings, armour, weapons, clothing, personal jewellery, ornaments and musical instruments.
Link.

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 9, 2006 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Congratulations are due to Kirstie Blakeman of the Liverpool Culture Company and Steve Boothman from Fantastic Fireworks for organising the successful New Years Eve Firework display at St George's Hall plateau.
Here's an article on the Lighting & Sound website that gives all the details of the people and equipment involved, all very impressive.

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 4, 2006 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's a couple of vacancies for coordinators (Talks Fest/Literature and Performance) in the Artistic team.
Go to the liverpool.gov jobs page and look out for ones with a CUL/ ref.

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 4, 2006 03:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just a reminder to recycle your Christmas trees and other materials.
From the liverpool08 Creative Communities site...

Help make Liverpool the 'greenest' city this Christmas with the Love Liverpool campaign. Check out our top tips for a green Christmas or enter our competition to win a Fair Trade Christmas hamper, courtesy of World Museum Liverpool, and a beautiful, handcrafted glass bowl made in Liverpool from 100 per cent recycled glass, courtesy of Energywise.

The campaign encourages everyone from children to adults, visitors to businesses to take personal responsibility for recycling, environmental cleanliness and the prevention of litter, graffiti, dog fouling and environmental anti-social behaviour.

See the liverpool.gov.uk page for more advice.

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 4, 2006 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The deadline for applying to participate in The Builders Association and dbox: Cross Media Workshop has been extended to February 10th 2006.
Full details here.
Contact Myriam Tahir at the Culture Company if you need any more information.
email: workshops06@liverpool.gov.uk
phone: 0151-233-5442

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 3, 2006 03:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Its not me that's asking. Its the Daily Post. (Full article)

Jessica Shaughnessy looks at getting ready for 2008

FORMER Leader of Liverpool City Council Cllr Mike Storey led the city to victory in the battle for the title of European Capital of Culture 2008.

In those glorious moments after Liverpool won, Cllr Storey jubilantly said: "This is like Liverpool winning the Champions League, Everton winning the double and the Beatles reforming all in the same day - and then Steven Spielberg coming to the city to make a Hollywood-blockbuster about it."

But, two years on, instead of looking back on his finest hour with satisfaction, Cllr Storey has expressed doubt about whether the city is ready for the big event.

Speaking to the Daily Post, he said: "I have concerns on two levels. Firstly, it's about the legacy of Capital of Culture. I don't think we have thought through what our legacy will be from this."

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 3, 2006 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...is Patras in Greece.

There is a website but is a bit short of info. I signed up for the weekly newsletter last November and have not received anything yet. Some of the links return blanks, the pdf download has an incorrect format so won't open. The list of events looks interesting but there's no venue information yet even for the Da Vinci exhibition that opens on the 10th Jan.
The Greek language version looks a little bit better but not much.
Perhaps they're all still trying to get these little wooden houses off their heads. I hope we can all dress up in silly outfits like that in 2008!

Link : http://patras2006.gr/en/

Posted by Ian Jackson at January 1, 2006 05:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)