Process
The competition to become the UK City of Culture 2025 is run by the Government every four years.
For 2025 in particular, it will use culture as a catalyst for levelling up areas outside London and put culture at the heart of plans to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The programme encourages the use of culture and creativity to promote the development of new partnerships, to encourage ambition, innovation and inspiration in cultural and creative activity, to drive regeneration and leave a lasting legacy.
The new winner will take on the baton from Coventry and be at the centre of the UK’s cultural spotlight for a year.
Newport and the Gwent region entered an expression of interest but unfortunately were not successful in progressing to the next stage of the bidding process.
However, the aim of our bid to become the UK City of Culture 2025 was to embrace the opportunity to highlight what our city and region has to offer and use it as a driver for change.
The level of support received from partners and organisations large and small was overwhelming. It demonstrated just how passionate people are about our city and that by working together we can achieve even greater things.
The work already completed and the relationships that have been forged thanks to this process will be used as a springboard to further develop our cultural partnerships and wider offering in Newport.
Partners
Read the letter to the Secretary of State from the Gwent local authority Leaders
A key element of this project is about working with public and private organisations, charities, and volunteers – coming together to maximise the benefits for the city and region.
We have a strong track record of partnership working and delivering improvements to our environment and communities. We look to seize all opportunities to promote confidence and pride within our communities.
At this stage, we already have considerable support from some of our key partners including:
Read some of our letters of support
If we are lucky enough to proceed to the next stage of the bidding process, expanding those links and harnessing the ideas and enthusiasm of organisation across the city and region will be paramount to us delivering a successful bid and events programme.
Register your interest or request further information
Show your support on social media #Newport25