Arts boost despite city of culture failure

Southampton was shortlisted for UK City of Culture 2025

Southampton is benefitting from investment into arts and cultural events and activities despite its failed bid to become UK City of Culture, an arts organisation has said.

The city made the shortlist in 2022 to be named UK City of Culture for 2025 and received £1.57m of new arts funding as a result.

It ultimately lost out to Bradford which is staging the year-long celebration of art, music and special community events.

Southampton Forward said it had delivered some of the programme within the bid which was helping to boost tourism and "cultural-led regeneration".

The city's Culture Trust was awarded the grant by Arts Council England in 2022 to fund events, festivals and new projects.

It followed an announcement of an additional £11.5m investment the previous year.

After the unsuccessful bid, the council and the Cultural Trust had said they wanted to carry out as much of what was contained within the bid as they could.

Claire Whitaker, chief executive of the trust - now renamed Southampton Forward, told the BBC: "It has enabled us to deliver some of the programme - albeit at a different scale and pace."

Its 2023-25 Impact Report listed activities including funding the display of Jane Austen's writing table in the city as part of the commemorations of the 250th anniversary of the author's birth.

The Emerge Youth Festival and a new destination website were also highlighted as the progress in the city's community arts and tourism sectors.

Forthcoming planned events include a Black History Month exploration of Southampton's jazz connections and the City Reflections project, illuminating its heritage walls.

"We've brought in additional investment and we're doing projects that not only benefiting people here but also brings people in to spend money.

"It isn't just about economic return, which is important, but it's also about social return - the importance of diversity in the city, we must celebrate that more - that diversity of part of who we are," Ms Whittaker said.