Powys is in the running to become the UK City of Culture 2025 after being confirmed as one of 20 areas to be included in the initial list.
The new winner will be announced next year and will be at the centre of the UK’s cultural spotlight in 2025, providing a massive boost to the local economy in a similar way that Coventry has benefited this year.
The competition, delivered by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in collaboration with the devolved administrations, uses culture as a catalyst for levelling up areas outside London and putting new parts of the UK on the cultural map internationally.
Montgomeryshire MP, Craig Williams, welcomed the announcement as “fantastic news” and encouraged the area to back the bid.
“We have seen the huge positive impacts for not just the winning ‘city’, but for the longlisted locations as well,” he said.
“The previous winners have seen massive benefits, with huge numbers of events and visitors highlighting the area and showcasing what Powys has to offer to the rest of the UK is a great proposal.”
He added that the UK Government will award grants of £40,000 to successful longlisted places, and highlighted that Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 has already attracted over £100 million in capital investment to support cultural projects.
City of Culture status also had a huge impact on Hull which welcomed over 5.3 million visits to over 2,800 events, cultural activities, installations and exhibitions in 2017 with 75% of those stating that it changed their perception of the city for the better. Nine-out-of-10 people in Hull thought that UK City of Culture had a positive impact on the city and more than nine-in-10 residents took part in at least one cultural activity.
The 20 bidders will be reduced to an initial long list in the coming weeks and then cut down further to a final shortlist in early 2022. The winner will be announced in May 2022.
Full list of bidders:
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
The City of Bangor and Northwest Wales
The Borderlands region, comprising Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders, Northumberland, Cumbria and Carlisle City
Bradford
Conwy County
Cornwall
Derby
County Durham
Lancashire
Medway
City of Newport
Powys
Southampton
Stirling
The Tay Cities region
Torbay and Exeter
Wakefield District
City of Wolverhampton
Wrexham County Borough
Great Yarmouth & East Suffolk