Inclusive Sport & Culture Festival

The Inclusive Sport & Culture Festival takes over the Liverpool waterfront from 2 to 8 May 2027, and it's a bit of a first for the UK. The whole idea is to put elite Paralympic-pathway sport and disabled-led arts and culture on the same stage, rather than keeping them in separate corners. It's owned by UK Sport and delivered with Arts Council England, ParalympicsGB and Liverpool City Council, and it's being described as a staging post on the road to Los Angeles 2028.

The sport side is spread across the city's waterfront. Wheelchair Rugby runs at the M&S Bank Arena from Sunday 2 to Friday 7 May, and the World Boccia Cup takes over the Exhibition Centre Liverpool (the Liverpool Experience Campus) from Monday 3 to Friday 7 May. Paracanoe is at Salthouse Dock on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 May, and Para Athletics finishes things off on Saturday 8 May across the waterfront, including Pier Head. The World Boccia Cup counts towards LA28 qualification, so there's a real competitive edge to it. The sports programme is run in partnership with Boccia UK, UK Athletics, Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby and Paddle UK.

Running alongside that is the arts and culture strand, commissioned by Arts Council England and delivered by Culture Liverpool, led by deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists. There's also an Athletes' and Artists' Village where the two worlds meet. The funding comes from a £2.3m National Lottery contribution and a £1m Arts Council England grant. Five-time Paralympic medallist and 12-time Paracanoe World Champion Emma Wiggs MBE sits on the Steering Group, and Liverpool City Council's Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Culture, Councillor Harry Doyle, called it an innovative, ground-breaking concept. It's a big week for the waterfront, with the sport and the arts sharing the same space from 2 to 8 May.