01/07/2008
Culture breaks 5m barrier
Nearly 5 million people will have attended a cultural event or attraction in Liverpool at the half-way stage of its tenure as European Capital of Culture 2008.
The city's cultural venues are experiencing an unprecedented box-office bonanza with Tate Liverpool recording its busiest month since it opened in 1988.
The Albert Dock venue, which is hosting a major Gustav Klimt exhibition, welcomed almost 140,000 people in June - the first time it has broken the 100,000 barrier and making it the city's number one attraction in '08.
National Museums Liverpool also broke the magic million mark for the first time in the January to June period, with the eight venues combined attracting almost 1.2m people to date. Most notably the Merseyside Maritime Museum is up 60% on 2007.
Most Liverpool venues be it for theatre, music, art or museum are recording an average 30% rise on attendances last year.
The actual 5m barrier is set to be broken this week when the city stages a feast of events such as Opera live from The Royal Opera House, the finale of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race on the River Mersey, a Shakespeare in the city festival and the World Premiere of Ja-Wobble Chinese Dub at the Carling Academy.
July is also set to be the busiest month to date - as Liverpool and Merseyside prepare to stage The Tall Ships' Races, The Open at Royal Birkdale, The Summer Pops at the ECHO Arena, The European Youth Parliament, The Beat Goes On at World Museum Liverpool, the UK's only annual Arabic Arts Festival and the Brouhaha Festival to name just a few highlights.
The public art project Go Superlambananas has also set the city buzzing and has so far attracted almost 2,000 devotees on Facebook.
<< Back