LIVERPOOL is already known as a city of festivals, and 2008 will take that to new heights.

July is maritime month, with the clippers returning from their 35,000-mile odyssey around the world on July 5.

Later in the month, from July 18-21, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to converge on Liverpool’s docks to see the majestic Tall Ships ahead of the start of their own race.

Alongside maritime events are music festivals such as Mathew Street and the Fresh Jazz Festival, together with Wimfest in March, Writing on the Wall in May, the Irish Festival and Black History Month in October, and Homotopia in November.

The increasingly prominent Arabic Arts Festival takes place in July and one of the major high- lights of the 2008 pro- gramme will be Taoub-Collectif Acrobatique de Tangier, a dramatic acrobatic performance accompanied by live Arabic music and traditional song.

The International DadaFest 2008, planned for September, is a disability and deaf arts festival bringing innovation, excellence and artistic work from disabled and deaf artists from every continent in the world in celebration of a global disability culture.

And, in the world of literature, there will be festivals at the Bluecoat in October, and the Shipping Lines Festival at Liverpool University in November.

The latter features Seamus Heaney, Carol Ann Duffy, Jorie Graham, Doris Lessing, Monica Ali, Philip Pullman and Paul Farley, among more than 20 writers.

A spokesman said: “They will read, speak and inspire audiences at more than 40 interactive and community-based events.”