Basildon, Birkenhead, Grimsby, and Rotherham have been shortlisted in the race to become the United Kingdom’s first Town of Culture.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport on Thursday unveiled a 15-town shortlist for the inaugural competition, with medium-sized towns including Corby, Great Yarmouth, Leith, Pontypridd, and Port Talbot also making the cut.
The remaining shortlisted locations are Ilfracombe, Isle of Bute, Lerwick, Sandown, Strabane, and Stockton Town Centre Ward.
Each of the 15 shortlisted towns will receive £60,000 to prepare a detailed bid before an independent judging panel selects one winner each from the small, medium, and large town categories early next year.
From those three finalists, one overall winner will be named the UK Town of Culture 2028 and awarded £3 million to stage cultural activities and events.
The two remaining finalists will each receive £250,000 to deliver parts of their proposed cultural programmes.
The competition divides entries into three population categories: small towns with fewer than 20,000 residents, medium towns with populations between 20,000 and 75,000, and large towns with more than 75,000 people.
The new initiative, which attracted nearly 400 applications before being narrowed to 15 finalists, will run alongside the UK City of Culture 2029 programme.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy congratulated the shortlisted towns and wished them success in the next phase of the contest.
“The fact that we received so many applications just goes to show how proud people are of their towns,” noted Nandy.
“When I launched this competition, I wanted to shine a light on our amazing towns all across the UK and the huge contribution they make to our national life.”
As part of the next stage, each shortlisted town must demonstrate how it would use culture to celebrate its identity, promote original storytelling, strengthen community participation, and attract investment and tourism.
Chair of the independent judging panel, Sir Phil Redmond, described the response to the competition as “overwhelming” and said entries had come “quite literally from all four corners of the UK”.
He added, “It has been fantastic that nearly 400 towns have come forward, sharing their sense of pride, ambition and desire to demonstrate how much they have, and continue to contribute to our national story.”
The eventual winner will hope to emulate the success of previous UK City of Culture title holders, including Derry-Londonderry (2013), Hull (2017), Coventry (2021), and Bradford, which most recently held the title.
