Record number of bids for UK City of Culture 2025

More places than ever before have put in bids to become the next UK City of Culture.

Those applying include Cornwall in England, Stirling in Scotland, Conwy County in Wales and a joint application from Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon in Northern Ireland.

The 20 applicants are bidding to host a year of cultural festivities in 2025.

The culture secretary said the number of applicants was "testament to the huge success of City of Culture".

This is the first time groups of towns have been able to join together and apply for the title to be awarded to their local area - enabling bids from places such as Great Yarmouth and East Suffolk in East Anglia and The Borderlands, which straddles the border between England and Scotland.

The 20 bidders will be reduced to an initial long list in the coming weeks and then cut down further to a final shortlist in early 2022.

The winner will be announced by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in May 2022.

Those long-listed will be awarded grants of £40,000 for the first time to support the next stage of their applications.

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."

Entrants have been told to prove they can put culture at the heart of their plans to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Sir Phil Redmond, UK City of Culture chairperson, said the competition was an "excuse for people to talk to each other, rather than at each other".

The successful area will take on the baton from Coventry, the 2021 UK City of Culture, which followed Hull in 2017 and Derry-Londonderry in 2013.

Hull's tenure as City of Culture attracted a total audience of more than five million people for events, £220m of investment and 800 new jobs, according to a report from the University of Hull.

Some bids have been controversial, with Lancashire submitting a last-minute bid despite the county council pulling its funding, saying the £22m needed to back it was "too great a financial risk".

The recent appearance of a string of Banksy-style urban artworks on the East Anglian coast could be an "endorsement" of a City of Culture bid, councils have claimed.

DCMS said Coventry was providing a "blueprint for how culture can be at the heart of social and economic recovery" as the country deals with the coronavirus pandemic.

Coventry has received more than £15.5m from the government to directly support its year of programmes, DCMS said.

The full list of bidders for UK City of Culture 2025 is: