Cultural good news at last

Aug 23 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

AFTER what has been a turbulent fortnight in Capital of Culture circles, Liverpool was in dire need of some good news, in the hope of lifting the city’s collective spirit.

After all, despite the efforts of many people to resurrect the Mathew Street Festival this weekend, it’s nevertheless unavoidable that it’s still being dubbed the “Not the Mathew Street Festival”, and isn’t what it was originally intended to be.

So yesterday’s announcement that the man responsible for the opening cerem- ony of the Sydney Olympics, Nigel Jam- ieson, has been handed the task of direc- ting the opening weekend for Liverpool’s own spell in the spotlight, when the 2008 Culture Year extravaganza begins, comes as a welcome breath of fresh air.

The appointment has been described as a genuine coup for the city – and there can’t be many who would quibble with that assessment. Anyone who saw the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olym- pics in 2000 will never forget the spec- tacle of light, sound and pageant that celebrated the best of Australian culture.

Now we have the chance to stage something as iconic for Liverpool itself. Perhaps the budget may not be so Olymp- ian-sized as was the case in Sydney, but we now have what is a golden opportun- ity to open our year in the European cultural limelight with something that will captivate all who see it.

The cultural rigours of the recent past will not have gone unnoticed outside Liverpool. Apart from the Mathew Street fiasco, there has also been the Robyn Archer disappointment, the Cloud debacle, and the delays that have dogged the Mersey cruise liner terminal, and now the showpiece Kings Dock convention centre. But a spectacular opening ceremony can help Liverpool put all that behind us.

As we have emphasised here before, there is still no reason why 2008 should not be the best Capital of Culture year there has ever been. The addition of Mr Jamieson’s creative genius to the mix that already exists only serves to reinforce our belief that this can indeed be the case.