Who will be awarded the UK City of Culture 2025?
My local City, Chelmsford, had said it was going to put itself forward to be the UK City of Culture 2025. Sadly, a bid was not made. However, that stoked my interest in the competition and I was keen to find out more and I have provided a summary of my findings below.
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The Launch of the UK City of Culture 2025
The Launch of the UK City of Culture 2025
In May 2021, the process for finding the UK City of Culture 2025 was launched by the Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden. Town, cities and regions across the UK are being encouraged to enter this competition and follow in the footsteps of Derry-Londonderry in 2013, Hull in 2017 and most recently, Coventry in 2021. The winning city or town will be announced in Spring 2022.
For the 2025 edition, groups of towns will be able to join together to compete for the title.
What is the UK City of Culture?
The UK City of Culture is a competition, that is similar to the European Union’s ‘European Capital of Culture’. The UK City of Culture is a competition that is held every four years and is awarded for a period of one year.
This competition is led by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in collaboration with the devolved administrations of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
The aim is to use the arts as a catalyst for developing and enriching culture in the host city, celebrating local heritage and developing social cohesion, a sense of place and local pride.
The winning cities found that the event itself led to a major boost in tourism, as people travelled from far and wide to visit all of the incredible events that the cities had organised. They also found that the prestige of the UK City of Culture title has brought about an investment in culture and creativity, which in turn has led to economic development and urban regeneration, as well as developing long-lasting partnerships with places across the UK and the globe.
Who is in the running to be the UK City of Culture 2025?
A number of cities and regions have submitted bids to become the UK City of Culture 2025.
I have listed below some the notable cities and regions that have indicated that they will be taking part in this competition, and some of their existing cultural attractions, which I am sure will play a part in the respective bids and continued cultural development of these locations:
Durham – Durham is located in the north-east of England. Its castle and cathedral form part of a UNESCO World Heritage Centre. The cathedral provides a strong visitor draw to the city, but also contains a number of other cultural attractions from Durham University's Oriental Museum to Beamish, England's largest open air museum. ‘Sculpture: In Our Image’ by Joseph Hillier, is a new local landmark in Newton Aycliffe that is designed to look as if it is under construction to honour the workers who make everyday household goods.
Bradford - Bradford is a city in West Yorkshire, located in the foothills of the Pennines and to the west of Leeds. Bradford is a very diverse city culturally, and has many visitor attractions. When I was a studying Graphic Arts & Design at University in Leeds, I regularly visited the National Science and Media Museum which explores the science and culture of image and sound technologies and their impact on our lives, I found it to be a great source of inspiration. There is also the Bradford Industrial Museum, which explores the industrial past, the Bronte Parsonage Museum and Cartwright Hall art gallery. The City of Culture bid seeks to take art and culture to every corner of the community.
Cornwall – Cornwall is a county located at the south-western tip of England, with its own unique cultural identity and language, and famed for its rugged landscaped and cultural traditions. Cornwall contains several cultural attractions including Tate St Ives, the family orientated Falmouth Art Gallery and the Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens near Penzance.
Great Yarmouth and East Suffolk - Great Yarmouth and East Suffolk have a shared cultural history linked to the sea, economy and the Norfolk Broads. The area hosts a number of renowned music events, such as the Latitude Festival and the Aldebrugh Festival, which celebrates the legacy of Benjamin Britten and contains several cultural attractions including the Maltings Gallery at Snape Maltings.
Exeter and Torquay – Exeter is UNESCO City of Literature, whilst Torbay is UNESCO Global GeoPark. These two locations have combined to make a bid that will focus on the natural environment, literature aspirations about NetZero carbon targets. The area includes the Royal Albert Memorial Museum which provides a programme of visiting exhibitions of local and national importance and the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, which is dedicated to moving image.
Lancashire - Lancashire is located in the north-west of England and is an area that was at the forefront of the industrial revolution, with industrial centres, mixed with attractive towns and villages. The Lancashire bid is centred on cultural regeneration; community, nature, and digital. Lancashire has a number of interesting gallery spaces that cover a wide range of styles, including the classical purpose-built Harris Museum in Preston, the Loughran Gallery at Walmer Bridge, which showcases innovative work and The Grundy Art Gallery, a contemporary art gallery in Blackpool.
Medway - Medway is an urban area in Kent that comprises Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham. Being located on the approach to the River Thames, and facing the continent, the Medway area has had a history dominated originally by the city of Rochester and later by the strategic naval and military presence in Chatham and Gillingham. It has several attractions that explore this past. Medway was also the home of Charles Dickens, and many of his stories are set here. The Rochester Art Gallery and Craft Case promotes local cultural engagement with a programme of high quality contemporary visual arts and crafts.
Southampton - Southampton is a major port and diverse city, located in Hampshire it has a strong maritime history. Southampton has a number of cultural attractions including the SeaCity Museum, which celebrates Southampton’s history as a “Gateway to the World”, John Hansard Gallery, amember of Tate Plus and the Southampton City Art Gallery, which is located in Southampton’s Cultural Quarter, and displays a wide range of mediums including painting, sculpture, photography and film.
Newport - Newport is located in South Wales and plans to submit its bid based on its passion for music, poetry, and performance. The Newport Museum and Art Gallery documents its history, culture and environment.
Wolverhampton – Wolverhampton is located in the West Midlands and its bid is centred on public events, music, creative workspaces and digital innovation. Wolverhampton contains a number of cultural offerings, from Wightwick Manor, a late-19th-century Arts and Crafts and Aesthetic Movements house to the Wolverhampton Art Gallery, which contains a variety of collections including several donated by industrialist art patrons.
Other candidates include:
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
The City of Bangor and North-West Wales
The Borderlands regions, including Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Border, Northumberland, Cumbria and Carlisle
Conway County
Derby
Powys
Stirling
The Tay cities of Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth & Kinross
Wakefield
Wrexham
I will be interested to see which bids make the shortlist and ultimately which will win the City of Culture 2025 award. It looks like some very strong bids have been put forward!
