Four shortlisted for City of Culture 2029
Blackpool, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Wrexham (pictured, courtesy Wikipedia) have been shortlisted to be the UK City of Culture 2029, with the winner receiving £10m, culture secretary Lisa Nandy announced today.
The winning city will be announced early in the new year, with the shortlist whittled down from a longlist of nine from which Inverness-Highland, Ipswich, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth and Swindon miss out. Each of the shortlisted will receive a minimum of £125,000 to take elements of their plans forward, with the long-listed each receiving £60,000.
“Great culture is everywhere, but the opportunity to showcase it, to put it on display and to show how it is woven into our national story is not” Nandy said. “That is the beauty of the UK City of Culture competition, it is an undiluted celebration of what makes our largest towns and cities so brilliant.”
The winner will follow previous holders of the title, first awarded in 2013: Derry-Londonderry, Hull, Coventry and Bradford. Based on their experiences, the 2029 holder can expect to attract millions of pounds in additional investment to help boost regeneration, a year in the cultural spotlight with hundreds of events encouraging long-lasting participation in the arts, growth for local tourism and a lasting boost to community pride.
Meanwhile, the competition to find the first-ever UK Town of Culture for 2028 is under way, with Basildon, Birkenhead, Corby, Great Yarmouth, Grimsby, Ilfracombe, Isle of Bute, Leith, Lerwick, Pontypridd, Port Talbot, Rotherham, Sandown, Stockton Town Centre Ward and Strabane all shortlisted. The overall winner, also to be announced next year, will receive £3m to host a cultural programme.