Blackpool, Sheffield, Milton Keynes and Wrexham have been shortlisted to be the UK city of culture 2029, an award viewed as a way to boost local economies, foster civic pride and, above all, have some fun. The four places were chosen from a longlist of nine and each will be given £125,000 to develop their bids before the winner is announced in the new year. That winner will be given a further £10m to help fund what has, in previous years, been a blizzard of events and ideas that create jobs, increase arts engagement and bring in tourists.
All four previous UK cities of culture – Derry (2013), Hull (2017), Coventry (2021) and Bradford (2025) – said afterwards that the designation had been transformative and brought lasting legacies. Before the shortlist was announced, Wrexham was the bookmaker’s favourite to win. The city is already surfing a Hollywood wave after its football team was bought by the actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Blackpool is bidding to become the first seaside resort to win the prize. The council leader, Lynn Williams, said it was a place that never stood still. She said: “Blackpool has been entertaining people for generations and now we have the chance to show the country exactly what our town is made of.
We have always been a town that entertains the country and there is nowhere quite like Blackpool.” Perhaps more than most places, Milton Keynes is a city burdened with misconceptions that it is just concrete and roundabouts. We’ve got our own orchestras. We’ve got lots of performing artists.
We have an international festival every two years … we want to develop and move forward.” Of all four shortlisted places, Sheffield’s artistic heritage probably shouts the loudest, whether that’s electronic music, Pulp, Arctic Monkeys or England’s largest theatre complex outside London. Fran Belbin, the leader of Sheffield city council, said being shortlisted was a proud moment for everyone who had shaped the bid. Phil Redmond, the Brookside and Grange Hill creator who headed Liverpool’s European capital of culture year in 2008, chairs the advisory panel which will choose the winner.
He said: “Once again there is a hard choice ahead. The four places on the shortlist continue to demonstrate both the variety and strength of creative ambition across the UK.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
