Blackpool, Wrexham make UK City of Culture 2029 longlist

Receiving £60,000 to further develop their bids, the local authorities will compete against the likes of Sheffield, Milton Keynes, and Portsmouth to claim a £10m prize.

The Department for Culture, Media, and Sport announced its longlist for the 2029 UK City of Culture on Wednesday. Of the 17 cities that submitted bids for the title, nine made the cut.

The full longlist is:

• Blackpool
• Inverness-Highland
• Ipswich
• Middlesbrough
• Milton Keynes
• Portsmouth
• Sheffield
• Swindon
• Wrexham

Taking over from Bradford, the 2029 UK City of Culture winner will be charged with putting on a year’s worth of cultural events, such as exhibitions, concerts, theatrical productions.

Bradford set the bar high in 2025, hosting 5,000 events of which 75% were free. The programme of activity had a collective audience of 3m people, with more than 650 artists and organisations involved.

Applications from the longlisted cities and communities will be due this summer.

The ultimate winner of the 2029 UK City of Culture title will be awarded a £10m prize to support its year of programming. The three runners up will receive £125,000 for cultural activity.

If Blackpool, which is not a city, was to secure the title it would be a timely award. Leader Cllr Lynn Williams pointed out that 2029 will double as the 150th anniversary of the Blackpool Illuminations and the 135th anniversary of the opening of Blackpool Tower and Blackpool Grand Theatre.

“Blackpool is bursting with culture and variety,” Williams said.

“We’ve just celebrated a week-long festival of circus and magic and are looking forward to welcoming the works of both Claude Monet and William Shakespeare in March – all of which is complemented by our year-round celebration of the art and culture of today and tomorrow,” she continued.

“Our diverse culture and entertainment offer means Blackpool has something for everybody, from all age groups and backgrounds. Being named as the City of Culture 2029 would showcase the talent and creativity that we already have on our doorstep, making all our residents proud of our bold, vibrant and cultural town.”

Wrexham received well wishes for its bid from the secretary of state for Wales, Jo Stevens.

Stevens said: “Wrexham is Wales’s newest city and I’m delighted to see it flying the flag for Wales in this competition. The city and area has so much to offer in heritage, culture and sport – I wish Wrexham every success with its bid.”

Wrexham Community and Culture Trust’s culture bid director Amanda Evans added: “Winning the bid will help to secure a bright social and economic future for Wrexham, bringing new opportunities for people who live and work in the area, as well as supporting our arts and culture sector in more ways than ever before.

She continued: “This is a really, really exciting time for us and we are committing everything over the next few months to put Wrexham on a global stage and show why we are worthy of winning the title.”

Sir Phil Redmond chaired the advisory panel that crafted the longlist.

“Once again, the UK City of Culture competition is providing bidders the opportunity to both demonstrate and experience a focused year, using culture as the creative catalyst for change, raising awareness and changing perceptions,” he said.

“Derry-Londonderry, Hull, Coventry and more recently Bradford, have all demonstrated the quality and depth of cultural activity embedded across the UK, as well as the benefits of simply taking part,” Redmond continued.

“The competition brings people together, to talk to each other rather than at each other, sharing commonality and tolerating difference. Above all, allowing places to demonstrate their own pride in their places.”

The UK City of Culture competition is running at the same time as the first-ever UK Town of Culture contest. Bids to become the UK Town of Culture in 2028 are due by the end of the month. Blackpool has already announced its intent to enter the running, alongside more than 230 other towns.

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy said: “For far too long, opportunity has not been shared equally across the country. The UK City of Culture and new UK Town of Culture competitions recognise the enormous contributions made by communities all over the UK who are all part of the story of who we are as a nation.”