Member Article

Three-month Pier Head Village 2017 festival confirmed

June 30th sees the return of The Pier Head Village. Formerly The Liverpool Village, year two of the three month summer festival sees it return with a much bigger and more action packed range of concepts, thrill rides and family fun than ever before, delivered in partnership with Bold Management and Liverpool Sound City.

Sound City which celebrates 10 years in 2017 is partnering to project manage the Village, the legendary music festival brand will also be programming the first ever Sound City Bar. The bar will feature countless opportunities for new and emerging-local-talent, alongside some more well established bands and artists. Also confirmed, as media partners are Made in Liverpool and Global Radio’s Heart FM, the largest commercial radio station in the North West.

With the spectacular backdrop of the Three Graces, The Pier Head Village will officially open on Friday 30th June and will deliver a programme of world-class entertainment, locally-sourced street food and artisan markets, high flying thrill rides and activity based family entertainment, offering a complete day to night summer experience designed to entertain all ages.

Liverpool Art Fair at the Village will deliver a purpose built art gallery on the Pier Head which will showcase high quality affordable art from the region’s top artists. With the highest possible production values, this event has been running for five years with 2017 seeing it become a Pier Head Village resident extending from four days to a full nine weeks, giving both artists and art buyers a fantastic opportunity to show and buy some fantastic work.

Alongside the Sound City Bar, other new features for 2017 include The Village Beach Bar and Restaurant, by day a child-friendly hub and meeting point for all of the thrill rides and attractions on the north side of the Pier Head. Pre-sunset it switches to a chilled out sunset bar, with laid back beats, cocktails and a Mediterranean vibe until the sun goes down. Weekends at the Village Beach Bar will be taken over by “Sunset Sessions”, curated by Impeccable’s Andy Carroll, for the first time Liverpool you will see the original and now legendary sunset DJs of Ibiza including Alfredo and Richard Norris - from noon till late every weekend throughout the summer.

Martin O’Shea, managing director of The Pier Head Village, said: “We piloted the Pier Head Village last year, with a very short lead in time, and are delighted to have been awarded the opportunity to return by Liverpool City Council. We are so passionate about our city and really want to bring the fun-filled family entertainment reminiscent of our favourite summer holidays as kids, while providing top quality, ultra-modern concepts for all ages. I’m absolutely delighted to have secured the best possible production partners in Liverpool Sound City.

“The new partnership with Liverpool Sound City will give us the opportunity to really celebrate our status as UNESCO City of Music and I believe it will take the Village to a whole new level. Partnering with the Liverpool Art Fair for the whole Village season, adds a real cultural cutting-edge to the programme, and it will give our hugely talented local and regional artists a shop window to showcase their work. We see this as an essential part of making great memories last forever when you can take home original art, something so unique yet so affordable at Liverpool Art Fair.

“The support we have received from Liverpool City Council, Culture Liverpool, ACCL and Waterfront Business Partnership has been excellent. We have just put in our order for sunshine all summer long, so everyone can take full advantage of The Pier Head Village.”

Assistant Mayor, Councilor Wendy Simon, said: “It’s massively important that we animate our world heritage waterfront and make the Pier Head not only a must-see attraction for visitors, but also somewhere residents can head to in the summer with their families to relax and enjoy themselves.

“Working in partnership with Liverpool Sound City will give an added dimension to The Village offer and along with the newly opened British Music Experience in the Cunard Building, it should make the waterfront more vibrant than ever.”

Dave Pichilingi, festival director for Sound City commented “The Pier Head Village will be the longest festival we have ever curated and is the perfect next step as we celebrate our 10th birthday in the city. Martin and I and both our respective teams are fully focused on bringing something really special and uniquely Liverpool to the Waterfront this year with art, culture – and of course music – at its heart. The Pier Head Village will totally set the mood for the summer and we are really looking forward to helping make it really special.”

Lucy Byrne, founder of Liverpool Art Fair commented: “We have long championed local artists and now we can give them a shop window on the waterfront to showcase their work to both local art buyers and international visitors, The Pier Head Village saw 650,000 visitors in it’s first year and we are excited to meet and talk to both enthusiastic art collectors and new buyers taking their first steps in to owning a one-off piece of original art.”

In the south side of The Pier Head Village, visitors will be able indulge in retail therapy in over 30 independent market stalls in The Artisan Village and Farmer’s Market, delivered by the Artisan Network, to sample locally sourced produce and street food, purchase fresh flowers and souvenirs seven days a week.

An even more exciting collection of thrill rides is confirmed, only seen in the largest European festivals, these attractions will set the pulse racing like never before. Alongside the thrills is The Village Bounce, an inflatable village as well as crazy golf, the return of the Total Wipeout and the Rugged Warrior assault course.

The Pier Head Village will be announcing additional new features and its programme of events for 2017 in the upcoming months. The festival will run from June 30th until 10th September. For more information go to www.pierheadvillageliverpool.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Molly Stirling .