Liverpool has revealed details of its wide-ranging programme for 2008 when it will take on the title European Capital of Culture. Themes of Liverpool 2008 include international and local collaborations, new commissions and street theatre with a focus on art, music, maritime and sport. Among the artistic highlights will be the UK's first major exhibition of the work of Gustav Klimt at Tate Liverpool. Also at Tate Liverpool will be the Turner Prize - the first time this important contemporary art competition has been exhibited outside London since it started in 1984.

The Berlin Philharmonic, under Sir Simon Rattle, will play at Liverpool's renowned Philharmonic Hall, and the Liverpool Sound concert will celebrate the unique impact Liverpool has had on the world of music. This concert, which will be broadcast across the globe from a specially constructed stage using Liverpool's stunning waterfront as a backdrop, will be a once-in-a-lifetime event, says the Liverpool Culture Company, which is co-ordinating the 2008 programme. Another musical first will be a specially commis¬sioned piece on the theme of European football culture by contemporary classical composer, Michael Nyman.

Other cultural highlights include the opening at Liverpool Docks of the Museum of Liverpool - devoted to the city, its people and heritage - and the Shipping Lines' Literary Festival, which will celebrate the impact of the sea and trade on the development of port city culture. And a number of major sporting events will also bring in more visitors - the Open Golf Championship at Royal Birkdale (July 2008), the start of the Tall Ships Race (July), the Grand National at Aintree (April), and the finale of the cycle race, the Tour of Britain (September).

The £3 billion regeneration programme, triggered by the Capital of Culture award, will leave the city with a new 10,000-seat indoor arena, a cruise liner facility and massive new retail and leisure facilities - all of which will help provide the infrastructure to build on Liverpool's growing tourism success, says the Culture Company.

Liverpool is already the sixth most visited city in the UK by international visitors, and Liverpool's John Lennon Airport is one of Europe's fastest growing. The number of hotel beds in the city has doubled in the past decade, and another 4,000 beds are due to be added by 2008.