The People's Celebration
Tonight in Liverpool at the new Pier Head the whole area came alive with light and sound. The celebration was to mark the 'transition' from Liverpool '08 Capital of Culture to Year of the Environment in '09. It also marked the passing over to the European Capitals of Culture '09, the Austrian city of Linz and Vilnius in Lithuania.
I wasn't sure whether I wanted to go into town, but as William works there now I said I'd go along with him before work because he is obsessed with fireworks, and I wanted to go to dinner in this fab Thai place in Liverpool One.
But we did go in, got the tube and walked down to the front with thousands of other people - I didn't realise how big an event it was going to be... There was a tannoy and over it (apparently) 800 different Scousers were talking about what it means to them to live in and around Merseyside.
After watching the Royal Liver Building being lit up in fantastic colours for a few minutes a really loud heartbeat sounded over the speakers, exactly in tandem with my own. It continued for what felt like forever, before a loud presentation started illustrated on huge screens all along the docks. The presentation was a review of Liverpool's history from 7,000,000,000BC to today.
The soundtrack to the proceedings came to our attention - everthing from The La's to The Beatles... And the fireworks began whilst slides of all the activities from the past year started.
The music and the noise was moving my entire body, the bottoms of my jeans were shaking. The beauty of the fireworks and the pride of the scouse community almost had me crying.
For the first time, I belonged. All around me people hugged and kissed and looked up in awe at the display of human dexterity and kindness around them, we felt proud to be living on Merseyside and we marvelled at the distance the city has come in a few short months. We all sang along to the songs, waved at the cameras and Will and I shared a beautifully tender kiss.
Even now I can still feel that beat in my heart, and my soul... it says that we have changed and yet we're exactly the same.
"All together now
All together now
All together now, In no man's land
Together"
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4 comments:
I would have loved to have been there - it sounds wonderful. Have just shown this to Rob. It is a very special place (to him and to me aswell although I know very little of it really - it is just one of those places I loved from the second I visited it)
Am a sucker for a scouse accent - my kneees would have been weak!! x
:) it was really special Katie, like you I loved the place as soon as we arrive - it's really friendly. Me too, and worryingly enough I am lapsing into the accent from time to time... it sounds very odd with the Guern! x
PS Hello Rob
See that was one accent I wouldn't have minded picking up, I tended to pick up on accents anyhow, especially working where I did, it would just happen in relating to people constantly from the area in stressful situations.
And that was one reason I didn't want us to stay in Birmingham too long, although I enjoyed it far more than I thought I was going to...and it was just starting to creep in a tiny bit!
Ooh not keen on the brummie accent - but not a bad place. x
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