Plymouth bid to be City of Culture '29

BUT PORTSMOUTH AMONG CITY'S RIVALS FOR £10 MILLION PRIZE

- By WILLIAM TELFORD

PLYMOUTH is to bid for the title of UK City of Culture 2029, with a chance to land £10m to fund a year of events.

Bid leaders say it is a great opportunity to showcase the city and its people with a yearlong celebration of the arts, heritage, sport and culture.

If the city is successful it could also mean it attracts other investment and creates jobs.

Led by Plymouth Culture and The Box, and backed by Plymouth City Council, the bid won't cost the city anything - and it would be given £10m if it wins the crown.

Bid leaders have called on everyone in the city to back the bid and sent out an invitation to citizens to make life “an adventure” in Plymouth in 2029 and join the celebration.

They said securing the title would give Plymouth the opportunity to celebrate the people and places that make the city vibrant, while supporting wider ambitions for growth and regeneration.

A winning City of Culture bid would, they said, celebrate a city shaped by the sea and its histories and showcase the breadth of creativity already thriving across Plymouth, including music, performance, heritage and visual arts to film, festivals, sport, community-led projects, and Plymouth's pioneering approach to marine research, health, social enterprise and volunteering.

It will also create space for “new voices, new ideas and new ways for people to take part in culture” across the city, helping to shape places, strengthen communities and improve opportunities for people.

Hannah Harris, chief executive of Plymouth Culture, and Victoria Pomery, chief executive of The Box and head of culture for Plymouth City Council, said the bid will build on the momentum created after more than a decade of "sustained investment" in arts and culture.