The Eurovision Song Contest takes place at Liverpool Arena (Picture: PA)
Liverpool Arena faces congestion concerns ahead of Eurovision Song Contest 2023.
The highly anticipated Grand Final will take place at the 11,000-capacity arena, on Saturday, May 13, with the semi-finals being held on Tuesday, May 9 and Thursday, May 11.
However, the venue faced ‘unacceptable’ crowd congestion at a sold-out Jamie Webster gig in November, with fans saying one area felt ‘unsafe’.
According to the BBC, the arena’s investigation said crowds built up after a payment system at a new bar crashed, and that there were long queues for two bars which merged with queues for the toilet and people entering the venue.
But, it is said to be an isolated incident, and the song contest will have reduced capacity, with 6,000 fans expected for the sold-out gig.
Following the November concert, after which operators said they ‘immediately revisited and revised our layouts and processes in relation to crowd flow,’ fans recalled the ‘really horrible’ experience.
A Jamie Webster gig in November sparked congestion concerns (Picture: C Brandon/Redferns)
One told BBC Radio Merseyside: ‘At least 15-20 people walked away and were just not dealing with it, and more people were coming out, getting a bit worked up, panicked about it, and just said, “It’s just not worth it for our own safety”.’
Another recalled ‘chaos at the door where everyone just started to walk in’, adding: ‘You couldn’t move. It took ages to get through’.
No injuries were reported, although the police were called, with the broadcaster noting they attended ‘briefly’.
Mae Muller will be taking to the stage, representing the UK (Picture: Joe Maher/Getty Images For Bauer Media )
Jamie’s hometown gig went ahead as planned but had to cut his encore.
Previous artists who have performed at the massive venue include the 1975 and Lewis Capaldi, as well as comedian Peter Kay.
A total of 37 countries will be competing in this year’s contest, six of which are automatically qualified for the final.
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These six are last year’s winners Ukraine, along with the ‘Big 5’ of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK – who are the main financiers of the contest.
The other countries will compete in the semi-finals for a place in the grand final, with the top 10 from each semi-final qualifying.
The Eurovision Song Contest airs Saturday, May 13 on BBC One.
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Previous artists who have performed at the massive venue include the 1975 and Lewis Capaldi.
