programme of exhibitions and talks are arranged. Over the Christmas periods of 2007 and 2008 an artificial skating rink was installed in the Concert Hall. In January 2008 Liverpool started its tenure as European Capital of Culture with the People's Opening at St George's Hall with a performance which included the Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr playing on its roof. The building has since been regularly used as a stage and backdrop for major civic and cultural events, from the city's Christmas Markets to the World War 1 tribute Weeping Window in 2015 and the Liverpool Giants in 2014 and 2018. As a filming location The exterior of St George's Hall has been used a filming location for several films and television series, including the BBC series Peaky Blinders and The War of the Worlds, the 1993 film In the Name of the Father, and the 2022 film The Batman. A 1987 advertisement for Coca-Cola was filmed inside the building. St George's Hall was the main hub for the paranormal investigation show "Most Haunted Live" which based their January 2009 "Search for Evil" live event from the hall. The live events ran for a full week, running from Saturday 10 January 2009 until Friday 16 January 2009. The Most Haunted Live team investigated the alleged paranormal activities in the hall, as well as other locations across the north west. The hall was the main studio hub and interactive hub for this special live event which aired on the satellite/cable channel Living TV. On 31 January 2023, St George's Hall will host the semi-final allocation draw for the Eurovision Song Contest which will be held in Liverpool in 2023. It will be broadcast live on BBC television as well as YouTube. Quotes about St George's Hall "This magnificent edifice will be a perennial monument of the energy and public spirit, in the nineteenth century, of the people of Liverpool; a place which of all the cities and towns in the British Empire is surpassed only by the metropolis in magnitude, wealth and importance; and which in the quick yet solid growth of its commercial greatness surpasses even the metropolis itself". The Illustrated London News 23 September 1854 "The combination of a magnificent interior with an even grander exterior, is an achievement of which ancient Rome itself could offer no parallel, for however splendid and well organised were the interiors of the great