Liverpool's Camp and Furnace was chosen as this year's EuroClub, but its organisers won't "relax until it's all over".
The city is hosting this year's beloved Eurovision Song Contest, beating off competitors including Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham to play host while the conflict in Ukraine remains ongoing.
Thousands of fans are expected to venture to Liverpool to watch the event - and the world's biggest Eurovision fan club is set to host Liverpool's official Eurovision party in the Baltic Triangle. The OGAE (Organisation Générale des Amateurs de l'Eurovision) is made up of 42 fan clubs from across the world.
READ MORE: Massive Eurovision Song Contest party coming to St George's Hall
Late last year, it announced it would be bringing its iconic EuroClub to Camp and Furnace. Acting as the city's official party venue, it's set to attract thousands of fans next month. The EuroClub is a key part of the wider city offer around Eurovision, which also includes the Eurovision Village, Cultural Festival and other event venues.
The EuroClub will take over the Baltic Triangle site for nine nights from Friday, May 5 until Saturday, May 13. There'll be plenty of dancefloor action each evening, as well as special events and gatherings which will celebrate the competing nations.
Alasdair Rendall, the former president of Eurovision fan club OGAE UK who is leading the organisation of EuroClub, told the ECHO the popular venue was given to them "on a plate". He explained: "So normally the OGAE club has to find a venue to be that year's EuroClub or Euro Fans Club, but we were lucky this year in that the Liverpool City Council essentially gave us Camp and Furnace and said, 'We're hoping this is going to be the Euro club for this year.'
"We went and did a walk around end of November, start of December, and we decided this is perfect. That took a lot of the work off us in terms of finding a great venue and we could just focus from our side on the content and getting all the acts lined up. So yeah, it was kind of given to us on a plate and we lapped it up."
There were no other potential venues taken into consideration and the city has welcomed EuroClub. Alisdair said: "The reception has been really good and people are really happy with the line-up. People are already talking about the line-up being one of the strongest ever for EuroClub.
"Obviously, I'm not going to relax until it's all over but yeah, it's been really positive - and to be honest, it's just one example of how Liverpool is really embracing Eurovision this year. I mean, I've been going to Eurovision now for, you know, 20-odd-years and I've never known a host city embrace it in this way and you know from the fan club's point of view, we're just so lucky that we're working with a city that's just totally up for it."
On working with Camp and Furnace, Alisdair said: "I know they're really excited to be the official EuroClub and they've been an absolute dream to work with. The team there have been fantastic - I couldn't have asked for better people. They are just so excited to be the official EuroClub."
He added: "The venue that's been the EuroClub does vary from year to year in terms of what the format is, and this is definitely already looking to be the best EuroClub ever in terms of venue and professionalism. I don't think there's a specific EuroClub legacy - I think it's part of the legacy that the contest leaves on the city itself."
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