Liverpool to host ground-breaking multisport and culture festival

Liverpool’s historic waterfront will host a ground-breaking inclusive sport and culture event in May 2027, bringing together international athletes and artists in a new festival of unity, sport and creativity.

Delivered by UKEL, a new, independent company established to host and deliver major international sporting events in the UK, the original para sport event concept was a commitment made in UK Sport’s major events strategy Making Live Sport Matter to showcase elite sport competition, drive performance benefits and deliver lasting social impact across Liverpool. Arts Council England is partnering with the event to enable the festival to feature exciting work by leading disabled and neurodivergent artists.

The festival will be delivered in collaboration with Liverpool City Council and will feature an exciting week-long lineup of four international sport competitions, ahead of the LA 2028 Paralympic Games. Integrated into the heart of the event will be a sport participation and cultural programme led by deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent artists – showcasing creativity, talent, and diverse perspectives through performances, exhibitions, and collaborative experiences.

The city of Liverpool will provide the iconic backdrop and will include venues such as the M&S Bank Arena, Exhibition Centre Liverpool and the Pier Head.

Recruitment for a specialist Stakeholder Board begins now to oversee the delivery of the strategic goals and objectives of the event. This will be made up of representatives of Liverpool City Council, UK Sport, Arts Council England, and Paralympics GB, plus independent board members which will include an experienced para sport athlete, a disabled artist, and an independent chair.

In addition, recruitment commences for a Creative Producer to lead the artistic direction and delivery of the culture programme. Sitting on the stakeholder board, the successful applicant will shape a bold, inclusive and disability-led experience that intersects sport and culture whilst driving greater opportunity, representation, and lasting social impact for the disabled community.

The event funders include UK Sport, Arts Council England, Liverpool City Council, and Liverpool Accommodation BID.

Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Culture, Councillor Harry Doyle, said: “We’re delighted to be hosting such an important and empowering event in our city – bringing together athletes, artists, and audiences, in a truly accessible and inclusive way.

“This is an innovative, ground-breaking concept and through working with UK Sport and our other partners, our vision is to create a pioneering and progressive sport and cultural event which delivers performance improvements and cultural excellence while amplifying visibility and opportunities for people with disabilities throughout our community and beyond.”

Esther Britten MBE, Head of Events and External Affairs at UK Sport, said: “This is an incredibly exciting moment for para sport in the UK. We’re proud to be creating an event that brings elite competition and culture together, creating a powerful platform to celebrate Paralympic athletes and build momentum towards LA 2028.

“Liverpool has repeatedly proven itself to be an exceptional host city, delivering world-class events with energy and creativity. We’re looking forward to working with our partners to deliver an event that builds on the UK’s strong Paralympic legacy and reflects our ambition to create environments that support performance, inspire audiences and showcases inclusive sport at its very best. Further details on the sport programme will be confirmed in due course.”

Jen Cleary, Director North West and Combined Arts, Arts Council England, said: “We’re excited to be collaborating on this new festival of unity, sport and creativity. Our investment will enable a substantial cultural programme led by deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists to sit at the heart of the event, giving festival audiences an opportunity to experience extraordinary artistic work alongside excellence in para sport.”

Bev Ward, COO at UKEL, said: “UKEL is delighted to be chosen to deliver this event for UK Sport, Arts Council England and Liverpool City Council. This is a great opportunity to bring together elite artists and athletes over a week of incredible competition and performance, in the globally renowned events city of Liverpool. UKEL’s talented team and partners will deliver a gold standard event for participants and spectators, and we’re glad to launch applications for the Stakeholder Board to oversee our exciting plans.”

About Culture Liverpool
Culture Liverpool is a department of Liverpool City Council, responsible for delivering an ambitious programme of events, festivals and creative activity across the city region. By working with artists, communities and partners locally and internationally, it champions creativity, supports talent and showcases Liverpool as a leading cultural destination.

About UK Sport
UK Sport are the UK’s trusted high-performance experts, powering our greatest athletes, teams, sports and events to achieve positive success. Established in 1997, UK Sport has transformed the high-performance sporting system in the UK – through strategic leadership and investment of National Lottery and Government funds – winning more Olympic and Paralympic medals than ever before and is recognised as one of the top nations in the world for event hosting capabilities. UK Sport’s purpose is to lead high-performance sport to enable extraordinary moments that enrich lives and aims to work collaboratively with partners to deliver the greatest decade of extraordinary moments; reaching, inspiring and uniting the nation. More @ www.uksport.gov.uk.

About Arts Council England 
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. Our vision, set out in our strategy Let’s Create, is that by 2030, we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish, and where every one of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. Between 2023 and 2026 we will have invested over £467million of public money from Government, alongside an estimated £250 million each year from The National Lottery, to help ensure that people in every part of the country have access to culture and creativity in the places where they live. Visit our website learn more about our work.

About UKEL
UKEL is a new independent company, established to support national governing bodies and local authorities to bring unforgettable international sports events to their communities. We offer alternative hosting models and shared service options, making it easier to bid for and deliver outstanding events that deliver real impact. We offer agility, flexibility and high-end talent to all levels of events across all sports, and at every stage of an event lifecycle from feasibility to bidding, to delivery and evaluation. We create efficiency through shared procurement across events and knowing how to get the best out of stakeholders, venues and suppliers.