Record number of applicants for UK City of Culture - including County Durham
County Durham is hoping to take the title from Coventry for 2025
A record 20 places from across the UK have submitted an interest to become the UK City of Culture 2025 - and one of them is County Durham.
This is an all time high for entries to the competition.
Regions and groups of towns have been encouraged to apply, with a number stepping forward from across the UK.
These includes the likes of Cornwall, Lancashire, and County Durham
Entrants have been tasked with proving that they can put culture at the heart of their plans to recover from the impact of the pandemic.
To ensure as many places as possible across the country can take up this opportunity, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are awarding grants of £40,000 to successful longlisted places for the first time to support their long applications.
The winner, which will be announced next year, will take on the baton from Coventry, to become UK City of Culture 2025.
Throughout the history of this competition the winning cities have always benefited from financial support to ensure the programme’s success and lasting legacy.
City of Culture status also had a huge impact on Hull and Derry-Londonderry. Hull saw more than 5.3 million visits to over 2,800 events, cultural activities, installations and exhibitions.
Coventry has received over £15.5 million from the Government to directly support its year as UK City of Culture.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said:
“This record number of applications from all four corners of the country is testament to the huge success of City of Culture in generating investment, creating jobs and boosting local pride.
“This prestigious prize creates a fantastic opportunity for towns and cities to build back better from the pandemic and I wish all bidders the very best of luck.”
Sir Phil Redmond, Chair of the City of Culture Expert Advisory Panel, said:
“From Derry-Londonderry to Hull and Coventry it has been a difficult and rewarding challenge to select the next UK City of Culture, and the list of potential candidates for 2025 indicates that life in the immediate future is going to be even more challenging!
“The list for 2025 also demonstrates the breadth of ambition, aspiration and innovation that exists from coast to coast and nation to nation across the UK and I am looking forward to that challenge of immersing myself once again in the UK’s rich seam of creativity.”
The twenty bidders will be reduced to an initial long list of bidders in the coming weeks and then cut down further to a final shortlist in early 2022. The winner will be announced in May 2022.
Full list of bidders:
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
The City of Bangor and Northwest Wales
The Borderlands region, comprising Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders, Northumberland, Cumbria and Carlisle City
Bradford
Conwy County
Cornwall
Derby
County Durham
Lancashire
Medway
City of Newport
Powys
Southampton
Stirling
The Tay Cities region
Torbay and Exeter
Wakefield District
City of Wolverhampton
Wrexham County Borough
Great Yarmouth & East Suffolk