The city will be staging some 7,000 events in connection with its year as European Capital of Culture.
Liverpool is a joint European Capital of Culture for 2008.
It was awarded in a different Capital of Culture each year.
Liverpool is 2008's European Capital of Culture, and the city has spent the last few years getting ready for the ball.
So what does it mean when your home town, which has just 153,000 residents, suddenly becomes a European Capital of Culture?
Now is the moment to visit, as the city has been anointed the European Capital of Culture in 2012.
The city has been elected European Capital of Culture, 2014.
For these attributes and others, the city was named an American Capital of Culture in 2005.
A Capital of Culture is hardly likely to grow up around a lorry terminal.
The city has been selected as a European Capital of Culture for 2016.