Gloucester 'serious contender' for UK City of Culture

Gloucester City Council hopes winning the 2025 title will put the city and the county on the map

Gloucester has joined the race to be crowned the next City of Culture.

The Gloucester for Gloucestershire bid is being led by the city and includes a "year-long series of events" showcasing the county's "wealth of creativity".

The city council hopes winning the 2025 title, which is awarded every four years, will put the county on the map.

Steve Morgan, from the council, said "we are serious contenders", and want to show "the way we do it differently in this part of the country".

Applications to be the next cultural capital have been invited from towns and cities across the UK.

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

The city council said it had put in an "expression of interest" and Richard Cook, council leader, said he thought they stood "a very big chance of being selected".

The county council said Gloucester was the "perfect choice to lead a bid for Gloucestershire"

Mark Hawthorne, leader of Gloucestershire County Council, said the title would "benefit the whole of Gloucestershire" and launch both the city and county "on to the national and international stage".

"Gloucester is a dynamic and vibrant city," he said.

"It's the perfect choice to lead a bid for Gloucestershire and I believe has a real chance."

The bid, will also "shine the national spotlight" on the county's "huge number of artists and creatives" and "abundance of festivals, activities and events".

Recent events have included "Of Earth and Sky" with huge word installations linked to the poetry of local people

David Owen, at the Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, said the city "should absolutely go for it".

He said the bid would not only boost the region's economy and morale but show people that "Gloucester is a great small city in a beautiful county".

"It gives the whole of Gloucestershire a unique opportunity to change the perception of the county for the better," he said.

Other areas that have thrown their hat in the ring include Derby, Cornwall, Wakefield and Medway.

Lancashire - which was aiming to be the first county to clinch the title - recently ditched its bid after the council withdrew its support because underwriting it by up to £22m was "too great a financial risk".

Coventry is currently enjoying its time in the role, after taking the title last year.

The winning bid will be announced in December 2021.