PAUL McCARTNEY will headline at a “once-in-a-life time” concert celebrating the best of Liverpool’s musical past and present.

The Liverpool Sound concert, on June 1, at Anfield, will form the centre-piece of popular music events next year, and is expected to be broadcast across the globe.

Sir Paul will headline at the gig and although no other names have been released, the Culture Company has promised a host of world-famous stars.

The opening weekend in January is set to be one of the main events as the curtain raiser for the year.

Centred around the St George’s Plateau, the spectacular “People’s Opening” will use surrounding buildings and streets in an aerial, light and pyrotechnic extravaganza on Friday, January 11.

The event is being co-directed by Nigel Jamieson, who worked on the opening ceremony for the Sydney Olympics, and Jayne Casey, co-founder of Liverpool’s Cream club.

Tickets for the showcase spectacular will be free.

It will be followed by “Liverpool the Musical” which aims to tell the city’s story, at the Arena and Convention Centre on the Saturday.

The Culture Company has lined up Ringo Starr, former Eurythmic Dave Stewart, Ian Broudie, of Lightning Seeds fame, musician Pete Wylie, and Echo and the Bunnymen, to star in the musical.

Legendary band Shack, the Christians, and No Fakin’ DJs, a Liverpool outfit that uses four turntables to create a semi-live show using Hip Hop, will also take part.

Another highlight of the year will be the BBC’s Electric Proms, which will be in its third year in 2008.

The five-day festival in October brings together the best new and established live performers. It will be the first time the event has been held outside Camden, London.

Although acts are yet to be announced, revellers can expect artists of the calibre of Paul McCartney, Jamie Callum, The Chemical Brothers, Ray Davies, and Kaiser Chiefs.

A welcome feature is the limited availability of £5 tickets, in the hope of making the gigs accessible to all.

The first event of the year will be the Fresh Festival from January 3 to 6 at the Philharmonic Hall.

The Culture Company promises it will be “cutting edge jazz, world and contemporary music featuring international artists alongside home-grown talent”.

The headlining act in the four-day event will be Wayne Shorter, the seven-time Grammy award-winner.

The tenor and soprano saxophonist heralded as one of the most important Jazz innovators since the 1960s will step into collaboration with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

According to the Phil, the festival is an opportunity to witness the “electrifying spectacle” of brilliant musicians testing their own abilities and “going somewhere they have never been before”.

In June, Liverpool will play host to Streetwaves, an annual competition, started by the Culture Company to help budding talents, aged between 14 and 25, make their first steps into the music industry.

Following a series of heats in Liverpool's five neighbourhood areas, starting in June, the “most ready” acts will get the chance to play at a series of high-profile music events during the summer.

July’s highlight will be the Chinese Dub on June 5 at Mountford Hall.

Internationally-acclaimed musician Jah Wobble, former bassist of Public Image, joins forces with the Pagoda Chinese Youth Orchestra (PCYO) for innovative Chinese/European musical collaboration. Wobble has also worked with music icons such as Bjork, Brian Eno, Massive Attack, Baaba Mal and Natasha Atlas.

It is hoped the project will raise awareness of Chinese people in Liverpool, which has Europe’s oldest Chinese community.

The Culture Company said the concert aimed to “push the boundaries and breathe new life into the way Chinese music is perceived”.

Next year also marks the 25th birthday of the PCYO, which is based in Henry Street.

July will also see the start of The Beat Goes On exhibition, at World Museum Liverpool.

Inspired by Liverpool’s significant contribution to popular music, the exhibition will showcase Mersey-side’s vibrant music scenes that have played a major part in the city’s life over the past 60 years. From the Cavern to Creamfields, from Billy Fury to The Zutons, Liverpool has been home to a staggering range of venues, sounds, performers, fashions and followers.

The exhibition will explore and celebrate Liverpool’s musical identity, its success and its continuing evolution.

The first exhibition of its kind, it draws together material from record companies, institutions and private collectors, it will run until November 1, 2009.

In September, Liverpool’s first locally held international Audio Visual (AV) festival will be held, titled AudioVision.

Kinetophone Records will be hosting a free six-day experience of video installations, audio-visual performances, film screenings and AV workshops.

The events will centre around the Mersey Tunnel Air Vent (AV), at the George’s Dock Building, which will see huge projections cast on to the art deco building.

Large format UK projection specialists E\T\C and Audile Lighting’s son et lumière (“sound and light show” in French) will transform the air-vent building structure into a spectacular array of colour, light and sound.

A public programme of workshops will be produced for the period of the September 15 to 20, 2008.

The Culture year’s element of popular music will culminate in December with The Righful Owners of The Song.

The event has been inspired by the poem, The Rightful Owners of The Song, and will bring together a group of Liverpool pub-singers, karaoke-hosts; professional or semi-professional singers who form the backbone of a particular strand of Liverpool’s musical culture.