City of Culture 2029: Lincolnshire councils consider joint bid

Events such as the So Festival in Skegness attract thousands of visitors to the region

Lincolnshire councils are considering a joint bid to become the City of Culture for 2029, documents show.

At a meeting on Wednesday, East Lindsey District Council's executive voted in favour of a new "cultural framework" in partnership with other local councils.

The framework aims to bring together all the "cultural offerings" across the region and prepare the way for "a confident 2029 City of Culture bid."

The title, currently held by Coventry, has been awarded to Bradford for 2025.

'Vision for culture'

According to the document, East Lindsey, Boston, South Holland, Lincoln and North East Lincolnshire councils, have agreed to "come together" to develop a county-wide proposal for the benefit of the region's arts infrastructure, communities and visitors.

"This is a key milestone and step change in preparing our collective capacity, ecology and co-operation frameworks for a confident 2029 City of Culture bid to see step change in our sector to flourish grow and innovate," it said.

East Lindsey's rural economy portfolio holder Adam Grist also praised the report for "weaving together all the good work that's taking place in both culture and heritage in the visitor economy" across the districts.

A spokesman for the South East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership said they had "a shared ambition".

"The Arts Council permits City of Culture bids to be from a collaborative partnership who share a commitment to working together with a wide range of partners and different sectors of the community."

The bid could also be used to launch a new project called Boston 2030, a culmination of events celebrating the Boston Massachusetts 400th anniversary, they added.

Organisers believe Lincoln's Asylum Steampunk festival is worth more than £2m to the local economy

In a statement, the City of Lincoln Council, said: "We are in early discussions with partners from across the county about plans to drive forward an ambitious vision for culture in Lincolnshire.

"One component of this is a collective ambition for city of culture, as multiple destinations are able to apply."

The UK City of Culture is designed to help regenerate parts of the UK with a year long diary of culture and arts.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Coventry was reported to have received more than £15.5m to support its year of programmes and attracted £100m of capital investment.

Bradford Council has also said winning the battle to be named UK City of Culture 2025 could bring an extra £700m into the city and attract thousands of visitors.