Manchester could be UK's first City of Culture

10th September 2009

The search is on for the first UK City of Culture in 2013 and Manchester could be in line for the title.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) are inviting interested cities to bid for the title and Manchester and Salford are currently exploring the opportunity together, having expressed an interest in making the application as a city-region.

The UK City of Culture aims to build on the success of Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture 2008 and representatives from Manchester, Salford and other interested UK cities will attend a briefing seminar in Liverpool on Thursday 10 September. The seminar will provide cities with more information about being the UK City of Culture, the benefits and the requirements needed to fulfill the title.

Councillor Mike Amesbury, Executive Member for Culture and Leisure at Manchester City Council said: "It is very early days but we have expressed an interest in becoming the UK City of Culture in 2013. The city region already has an exceptional cultural offer and we, together with Salford City Council, now need to evaluate whether this is the best opportunity for building on our success, to attract more visitors and open up opportunities for local residents."

Criteria to become the UK City of Culture includes the ability to demonstrate a high quality cultural programme that reaches a wide variety of audiences, the capacity for lasting social regeneration by widening participation and supporting cultural diversity, and the ability to demonstrate significant economic impact from the programme.

Following the resounding success of this year’s Manchester International Festival, which was worth £35.7 million to the city, and with the National Football Museum looking to relocate to the city centre, Manchester and the wider city region already has an exceptional cultural offer on which to base the UK City of Culture. Manchester and Salford councils will now need to consider whether this is the best way to further develop this legacy.

Councillor Barry Warner, Salford City Council's lead member for culture and sport said: "It is good that Manchester City Council and Salford City Council are working on exploring the potential of this important initiative for improving cultural opportunities for the city region and our local residents."

Paul Simpson, managing director of Visit Manchester, the tourist board for Greater Manchester, said: “Whilst we’re still in the very early stages of a possible Manchester-Salford bid, the opportunity to become the UK’s first City of Culture is definitely something we should explore. We already have an impressive amount of cultural content and the City of Culture status would be a ‘badge of opportunity’ to impress that on the rest of the UK.”

Following Thursday’s seminar, all interested cities will be required to submit outline bids to the DCMS by 16 October and initial bids by 11 December 2009.

The shortlist will be announced early in 2010, when named cities will have until 28 May to submit their final bids.

ENDS