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City of Culture 2025: Wrexham aims to emulate Coventry

BBC CoventryBBC
Coventry was crowned UK City of Culture 2021, and has seen many benefits

On Tuesday Wrexham will find out if it has been chosen as the UK City of Culture for 2025.

It is competing against Bradford, County Durham and Southampton for the title - which can be worth hundreds of millions of pounds in investment.

A recent drone display over current holder Coventry showed a city rising phoenix-like from tough economic times.

And that is what the project aims to do - bring communities together, tap into creativity and attract investment.

This is the City parade
One thousand people took part in the This is the City parade to mark Coventry's final month as the UK City of Culture

Research into the value of such events both in the UK and Europe has found that they work best when they help projects grow even after their year in the spotlight ends.

Coventry looks set to be one of those, according to Dr Franco Bianchini, an associate director of the Centre for Cultural Value at Leeds University.

"I think it's a very good example of a new type of City of Culture programme," he said.

"They have paid much more attention to projects in the community and projects that are going to last and have a legacy. It's not perfect but it's really a step in the right direction."

Femi Dokunmu
Femi Dokunmu runs a music studio in Coventry and thinks the title has brought the city "into the light"

Being host city has brought a boost for some like Femi Dokunmu, who runs a music studio.

"With music being a big part of culture I've been working with a lot of youth foundations trying to bring people together to work with the whole City of Culture and hopefully bring Coventry more into the light," he said.

Larna Andrews, Positive Youth Foundation
Larna Andrew has said projects made possible by City of Culture status have been a big positive for young people in Coventry

Larna Andrews works for Positive Youth Foundation, a project supporting young people, and she says City of Culture has laid the groundwork for future success.

"Through all the different events in the city it means that our young people have had volunteering opportunities, they've had paid placements and also exposure which I think is so important.

"It doesn't stop here: young people continuously need our support and we're ensuring that every project we put on has that quality and longevity as well."

Ushma
BBC reporter Ushma Mistry said many City of Culture events have been a "huge success"

Ushma Mistry, who has covered many of the events for BBC Coventry & Warwickshire Radio, said although some events were hampered by the pandemic, many have been a huge success, like a parade last June.

"We've got a big Irish community here so there was Irish dancing, ska dancers from the big Caribbean community and Bollywood dancers from the Indian community," she said.

"People were going about their business - shopping or doing their normal errands - and all of a sudden something would happen either outside their front door on the high street."

Coventry will soon pass the baton to its successor, but it aims to remain a vibrant part of the UK's cultural life.

Now one of the UK's newest cities, Wrexham is hoping it will get the chance to build on Coventry's success.