Liverpool’s BigEurovision Welcome
During the free ticketed opening event for Eurovision 2023, attendee reports described crowd-control problems before or around the start of the show. The council said the site was within capacity and that there were no serious medical incidents.
Incident Overview
What happened
During the free ticketed opening event for Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool, multiple attendees and PA-sourced reports described crowd-control problems before or around the start of the show, with people reported as crying, fainting, distressed, unable to move freely, and being helped out over barriers. Liverpool City Council said only a small number felt uncomfortable, that they were assisted, that there were no serious medical incidents, and that the site was within capacity.
Incident name: Liverpool’s Big Eurovision Welcome. Sources also use The National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome and Eurovision welcome party / welcome concert.
Date: 07/05/2023. Contemporary sources describe the incident as occurring on Sunday 7 May 2023.
Location and Impact
Where and what is verified
Location: The event was described as The National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome at St George’s Plateau / outside St George’s Hall / the area in and around St George’s Hall, Liverpool city centre, Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. Exact source wording varies by outlet.
Reported injuries: Not verified. Reviewed sources report people “crying”, “fainting”, “distressed”, and being helped out of the crowd, but I did not find a source giving a verified injury total. Liverpool City Council said there were “no serious medical incidents.”
Reported fatalities: Not verified. I did not find any reviewed source reporting a fatality linked to this incident. Liverpool City Council said there were “no serious medical incidents.”
Review disputed details →Key Facts
Evidence Snapshot
Chronology
Event Timeline
Reported Details
What sources described
Disputed Details
Conflicting Information
The source set contains several areas where attendee accounts, media reports and official statements do not fully align.
The reviewed sources give different accounts of this detail.
Attendee and PA-based reports said people were crying, fainting, distressed, unable to move, and being helped over barriers.
Liverpool City Council said there was no danger, no serious medical incidents, and the site was comfortably within capacity / under capacity.
Both sets of claims relate to the same event on 7 May 2023.
The reviewed sources give different accounts of this detail.
Official statement refers to “a small number” of people who felt uncomfortable and were helped out.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing “at least 20” people pulled out in one area and another person said they saw “around 40” people helped over barriers.
No official numeric total located in reviewed sources.
The reviewed sources give different accounts of this detail.
Pre-event Liverpool Express material said up to 30,000 tickets would be made available / nearly 30,000 would be welcomed.
Multiple post-event sources said over 25,000 or 25,000 attended / watched live.
This may reflect the difference between planned capacity/ticket availability and reported attendance, but the sources do not explicitly reconcile it.
Not Verified
Unverified Details
The following details were not verified in the reviewed material.
Source Material
References
Reference cards below list the sources included in the incident note.
All Document URLs
Source Links
Direct links to the source material listed in the report.
