Sheffield will welcome drag queens, Ukrainian dancers, brass bands and street performers onto Devonshire Green to celebrate the Eurovision song contest this weekend.
Liverpool will host the official Eurovision Song Contest on May 13 on behalf of Ukraine who won the contest, but could not host due to the ongoing war.
Despite losing the bid to host the competition, Sheffield City Council made a commitment to hold their own celebration.
Gary Clifton, member of Sheffield City Council and one of the organisers of the event, has been working on the plans since mid-January in partnership with the BBC.
He said: “It’s absolutely all about Ukraine. We’re hosting it on their behalf but it’s unashamedly about Eurovision, it’s a fantastic event, it’s a fantastic opportunity to have fun which is never a bad thing to do.
“We are fortunate that we have fantastic relationships with our Ukrainian community. We engaged with them really early in our original Eurovision bid and we said we wouldn’t ignore them if we did it again and we’ve stayed true to that.”
Gary said he hopes the event will put smiles on people’s faces.
Sheffield has recently become a twin city with Khmelnytskyi, a city in Western Ukraine, where they hope to get some artists to join the performers.
Maryna Krut, a renowned Ukrainian singer, songwriter and Bandura player will be performing at the event and is flying to England especially for the celebration.
Joining her will be Jamie Campbell, also known as Fifi LaTrue, the inspiration behind the hit West End musical ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.’
Emma Maezin, one of the drag queens who will perform at the event, said the Eurovision Party is a great opportunity to showcase Yorkshire talent.
She said: “Unfortunately, Sheffield hasn’t had an official Pride event for the past few years so there’s been even less opportunities for local drag queens to have a strong presence in the centre of the city.
“I think there’s a beauty of drag where it’s a combination of putting your best self forward and showing your authenticity, even though you’re not dressed as yourself, you are just being unapologetically you.”
“No two kings, or queens are ever the same. You just need to be open to the world of drag.”
Emma said the performance on Saturday on Devonshire Green will provide a platform for drag kings, queens and artists in South Yorkshire.
The event has cost the council roughly £195,000 with an additional grant from the Arts Council.
The party is free and has a capacity of 5,000 people with celebrations starting at 1pm and running throughout the day.
The Eurovision Song Contest will be live streamed on a big screen in Devonshire Green at 8pm until the results are revealed at midnight.