Eleven places from across the country have put their names forward to become the UK City of Culture in 2017.
They are, Aberdeen, Chester, Dundee, East Kent (covering Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone and Thanet), Hastings and Bexhill on Sea, Hull, Leicester, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Southampton, Southend on Sea, and Swansea Bay (covering Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Neath, and Port Talbot).
All 11 places have until 30 April to submit their initial bids which will be considered by an independent advisory panel chaired by Phil Redmond. The panel will then decide on a shortlist which will be announced in June.
Phil Redmond, Chair of the independent advisory panel said: ‘The UK City of Culture can be a real catalyst for change and I’m delighted so many places have registered their interest in the competition for 2017. Together with the panel I’m looking forward to receiving some ambitious and dynamic bids that highlight the very best of local cultural talent, along with delivering a realistic programme that will appeal to as wide an audience as possible.’
In their year as European City of Culture, Liverpool received 9.7 million additional visitors to the city which resulted in over £735 million in additional visitor spend. Derry-Londonderry hope to have 2800 tourism jobs by 2020 as a legacy from their year as the first UK City of Culture.
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