SWANSEA Bay‘s bid to become the UK’s City of Culture in 2013 has taken another step closer.
It’s been named as one of 14 areas of the UK that have put in formal bids for the prestigious title.
Twenty-two cities were interested enough to put forward outline proposals back in October, but eight of these decided that either they weren’t on the right tracks with their bids or that they wanted to wait until the next awarding of the designation – which will be for 2017 – leaving the present field of 14 areas in the running.
The shortlist of four will be announced in February next year with the winner announced in the summer, but Swansea Council Leader Chris Holley said it was an encouraging to see Swansea Bay among the bidders.
He said: “Swansea Bay has a lot going for it and winning the title would not just be well-deserved but would be a major opportunity to boost culture, the arts and tourism in this part of Wales.
“Our outline proposals were well-received and gave us the green light to put in the enormous amount of work needed to develop the initial bid. Now it’s fingers crossed for another green light in February.”
Swansea Bay was the only area of Wales to put in a bid for the City of Culture designation and if it won the designation there would be benefits for the whole of South Wales. The list announced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport shows the competition includes Birmingham, Cornwall and Norwich.
Swansea Bay‘s bid is being led by Swansea Bay Futures and Fiona Rees, its Executive Director, said: “The announcement of the list of 14 is an important first step. However, there’s a long way to go and our next goal is to make it onto the shortlist in February.
“Although the bid is in, we’re anticipating follow-up questions and a meeting with the assessment team in January, which will hopefully convince them that we have the ideas, the track record, the desire and the support we need to deliver an excellent City of Culture in Swansea Bay in 2013.”
