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Cornwall prepares City of Culture 2025 bid

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Cornwall can bid for the 'city' accolade as a group of towns for the first time

Cornwall is to bid for the title of City of Culture 2025.

The bid, backed by Cornwall-based celebrity Dawn French, is led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), in partnership with Cornwall Council.

The LEP said winning would put the UK's cultural spotlight on the far South West for a year, building on the G7 summit of world leaders in Carbis Bay.

For 2025, groups of towns will be able to join forces to bid for the title.

Dawn French
Actress Dawn French said she was delighted Cornwall was bidding

The plan has the backing of organisations and leading figures including national Tate director Maria Balshaw, the Eden Project, Falmouth University, Hall for Cornwall, Newlyn Art and The Exchange Gallery.

The winner of the four-yearly contest will pick up the baton from Coventry, which has predicted a £110m investment dividend from being this year's host.

Simon Dawson/No 10 Prime Ministers wife Carrie Johnson walks with US First Lady Dr Jill Biden at the Minack TheatreSimon Dawson/No 10
Carrie Johnson and US First Lady Jill Biden were pictured on Saturday visiting Cornwall's iconic open air Minack Theatre

Actor, comedian and author Ms French, who lives in Cornwall and is chancellor of Falmouth University, said: "Cornwall is a place of huge creativity and culture and while it might seem strange that a rural area is bidding for City of Culture, it is usual for Cornwall to be challenging perceptions and rewriting the rules."

LEP chief executive Glenn Caplin-Grey said: "Over the past few days Cornwall has been in the global spotlight and being able to showcase our creativity through City of Culture 2025 would be a brilliant legacy."

The working title of Cornwall's bid is Outside Culture, recognising that so much of Cornwall's cultural distinctiveness is driven by its landscape, and takes place outdoors.

Eden Project
The Eden Project, which hosted dinner for G7 world leaders and key royal family members, is backing the bid

In 2017, Cornwall Council made a controversial decision to bid for Truro to become European Capital of Culture in 2023, voting to spend £536,000 on the unsuccessful bid.

Truro Mayor Rob Nolan said he had not been informed of the "pie-in-the-sky" project, at a time when it was unclear whether the EU would proceed with letting the UK host European Capitals of Culture as a consequence of Brexit.

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