What you need to know if you are coming to Liverpool M&S Bank Arena for Eurovision

The Arena’s set for one of the biggest parties ever as Eurovision 2023 comes to town.

Fever pitch has officially been reached and everyone is over-the-top excited as Liverpool is set to host the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of last year’s winner’s, Ukraine.

Let’s be honest, nobody wants to be late for this one, so to help make sure you know how to get the venue and what you can look forward to, here’s everything you need to know.

Transport:

Trains

The M&S Bank Arena is a 20-minute walk from Lime Street Station (or a short taxi ride). Alternatively, you can change at Lime Street onto the Merseyrail underground Wirral Line trains, travelling into to James Street station, which is a 10-minute walk away. If you’re travelling from outside Merseyside, you can catch an underground train to James Street station from Lime Street station, inclusive of your ticket cost.

Merseyrail have announced special Eurovision timetable arrangements, including late night trains for The Grand Final on Saturday, May 13.

Plans in place throughout Eurovision week mean on some days city centre stations will close at certain times to help manage the large numbers of people expected to attend the events.

Between Monday, May 8 – Friday, May 12 to support the semi-final events, a normal weekday timetable will run on Northern and Wirral lines. James Street station will be closed from 20:00 each evening .

On the day of the Grand Final trains will run to a 20-minute frequency on all parts of the Merseyrail network, except for the Ellesmere Port line which will run to a 30-minute frequency. This allows trains to extend into the early hours of Sunday morning.

Liverpool Lime Street Low Level station and James Street station will be closed all day. This is to help manage the large number of people expected at The Grand Final.

To plan your journey and look for times, closures, and services, click here.

Buses

If you’re coming into the city from John Lennon Airport, you’ll be able to catch the express shuttle service 500 taking you to Liverpool ONE Bus Station just across the road from the arena in the city centre. (Get it right outside as you exit the terminal, you can’t miss it!). It’s been increased to run every 15 minutes from May 8-15 and takes just over 30 minutes, costing a maximum of £2 or you can get a Music Madness 3 Day Bus Ticket which will give you unlimited travel on Arriva services for three consecutive days.

There are long-distance and local bus services which go to Liverpool ONE Bus Station, just a five-minute walk away, as well as Queen Square bus station, which is about 20 minutes’ walk away. Arriva is advising people to allow plenty of time for all journeys because of demand and some road closures meaning journeys could take longer, but there is constantly updated information on its and Merseytravel websites.

The CityLink bus service also runs a circular route around the city and stops at both Liverpool Lime Street and M&S Bank Arena.

For Arriva click here.

For Merseytravel click here.

You can ring Traveline on 0151 236 7676 for all up-to-date information about bus, train, or ferry services, it’s open from 8am to 8pm daily.

Car

The Arena is less than 20 minutes from the motorway network and situated off Liverpool’s main through-road, so it’s easy to get to by car. Just follow the white on brown tourist route signs for the Waterfront which you’ll see on all major routes into the city, or put the postcode L3 4BX into your Sat Nav.

Parking

There are 1450 parking spaces at the on-site Kings Dock Car Park, with accessible bays and electric charging points on every floor, as well as loads of secure car parks in and around the city.

For more on parking at the arena click here.

Safety rules:

The Arena asks people to arrive early to events to allow time to get through its security and safety checks. Walkthrough metal detectors will be in use at all events, so you can help speed things up by emptying your pockets beforehand.

The Arena has a team of security and stewarding staff who you’ll see, and you might see police officers along with detection dogs around the venue prior to and during events as an additional safety measure.

If possible don’t take bags to the arena. If you do, don’t take anything larger than A4 (ideally clear to allow for quick and hygienic security searches). Exemptions are allowed for medical reasons or for those with changing bags for babies and young children. Suitcases, large handbags, backpacks/rucksacks are strictly not permitted, and there is no left luggage facility.

Food and drink:

The concourse at the M&S Bank Arena has a wide range of eateries serving American classics like flame-grilled burgers and hotdogs at Victoria Grill, street food favourites like toasted cheese sandwiches and macaroni cheese at George’s Melts, and crispy fish goujons, and scampi and chips at South Seafood, to name just a few.

Its Albert Tavern kiosks offer beers and ciders – bottle and on draught – wines, and snacks. If you fancy a bag of sweets, or anything from popcorn to mini donuts or coffee and cake, then Duke’s Treats is the one to head to.

Start times:

If you’re lucky enough to have a ticket, then the start times will be on those, but as a reminder, here’s when you need to get to the Arena for what – and don’t forget to allow plenty of time!

SemiFinal 1:

• Evening Preview on Monday, May 8 – 8pm

• Afternoon Preview on Tuesday, May 9 – 1.30pm

• Live Show on Tuesday, May 9 – 8pm

Semi Final 2:

• Evening Preview on Wednesday, May 10 – 8pm

• Afternoon Preview on Thursday, May 11 – 1.30pm

• Live Show on Thursday, May 11 – 8pm

Grand Final:

• Evening Preview on Friday. May 12 – 8pm

• Afternoon Preview on Saturday, May 13 – 1pm

• Live Show on Saturday, May 13 – 8pm