Stars of Music and Business Gather for Liverpool Day
Stars from the worlds of popular and classical music will join Liverpool children and civic and business leaders to celebrate Liverpool Day at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
Performers from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO), Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) and The Scaffold will perform a gala show before an audience of more than 1,500 people in the World Expo Performance Hall.
The show will mark the finale of a range of activities to celebrate Liverpool Day on October 16.
Performers will be joined at the Expo by the city’s civic leadership, including Liverpool City Council leader Joe Anderson, as well as scores of senior business figures from the region including representatives of Peel Holdings, the Pavilion’s main sponsor.
Youngsters from Liverpool’s Pagoda Chinese Youth Orchestra will also perform during the gala evening, along with Liverpool band 6ix Toys.
Everton Football Club, which runs a football coaching programme for disabled youngsters in Shanghai, will be holding coaching sessions for youngsters at the Expo during the day.
The history of the city, meanwhile, will be told to Liverpool Pavilion visitors by Liverpool City Council historian Steve Binns and World Heritage Site manager John Hinchliffe.
Cardinal Heenan School, Archbishop Beck and Childwall Sports Colleges will sign a partnership agreement with one of China’s top sports academies and 14 children from Liverpool secondary schools will also be in Shanghai during this period as part of the final of a series of children’s delegations which have visited the Expo.
Other activities in the lead-up to Liverpool Day include the announcement of the winners of a global citizenship competition run by Liverpool businessman Chris Arnold, which will see 24 young people come to Liverpool for a week to compete for the ultimate prize of an all-expenses paid, year-long round-the-world trip.
In addition, Merseyside business leaders will don hard hats and tool belts to help build a house, sponsored by Liverpool FC, for a low income family in Shanghai.
And disabled members of the Oakfield Day Service in Anfield are feeling proud after learning their film, “Jack’s Journey”, which they produced and starred in, was selected to be shown in the Liverpool Pavilion on Liverpool Day. It shows how disabled people use public transport, some of the issues that arise and how these can be tackled positively.
The Pavilion, which is the Urban Best Practice Area of the Expo, has already clocked up more than 600,000 visitors and is one of the most popular city pavilions at the event.
As the only UK city to have a dedicated presence at the event, Liverpool has attracted an average of more than 5,000 visitors each day to its Pavilion.
The gala performance, to be watched by more than 1,500 guests, including senior Expo and Chinese government officials, will include songs from the Lennon and McCartney Songbook.
It will be conducted by one of the best conductors in the world, Vasily Petrenko, and compered by BBC Radio Merseyside’s Roger Phillips.
Liverpool City Council leader Joe Anderson said: “Liverpool Day is set to be the highlight of our activity at the World Expo, when we will showcase the very best of our city’s culture.
“As a twin city of Shanghai, Liverpool is very proud to have taken part in the Expo, which has allowed us to tell the Chinese public all about what our city has to offer them as tourists, students or businesspeople.”
Max Steinberg, chief executive of Liverpool Vision, added: “The city’s commitment to the Expo is already reaping benefits for the scores of businesses which have been involved, helping them forge new relationships, explore untapped markets and seek new investment.
“Liverpool Day is an opportunity for us to reach out to an extremely influential international audience and tell and sell the story of what we have to offer and help us to build on the interest in our city that we have already generated during our time in Shanghai.”
During the visit to Shanghai, Cllr Anderson and Mr Steinberg will also be keynote speakers at the International Urban Regeneration Forum 2010.
Liverpool’s presence at Expo 2010 is being led by Liverpool Vision in partnership with the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Liverpool City Council, and the Liverpool Shanghai Partnership.
