Stoke-on-Trent named as UK City of Culture 2021 finalist
Businesses, community groups and civic leaders are celebrating Stoke-on-Trent being named as a finalist in the competition to become UK City of Culture 2021.
There are now just five cities on the shortlist – Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry, Paisley, Sunderland and Swansea. A judging panel is expected to visit the city in September and a final bid will be submitted by the end of that month. The winner will then be decided and announced in Hull in late November or early December.
Keele is one of a number of partners heavily involved in Stoke-on-Trent’s bid, which is being led by the city council – and also includes The Sentinel, Staffordshire University, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, the Local Enterprise Partnership, arts organisations across the city, and a host of other organisations.
Professor David Amigoni, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at Keele, who is chair of the bid’s cultural forum, commented:
“This is fantastic news for the City and the wider area. Stoke-on-Trent is a unique place, and has so much to be proud of. We are surrounded by culture and people don’t have to look far to experience it for themselves.”
“As a university, we're really proud of our role in providing a vibrant programme of art, music, poetry, performances, lectures and other cultural events. Importantly, we recognise that the impact of what we do at the University is best achieved in partnership with others; for example our research-led relationships with the New Vic Theatre, Emma Bridgewater; and Age UK (North Staffordshire) through our Live Age Festival.”
Stoke-on-Trent is already benefitting from investment linked to a raised profile for arts and culture, with Arts Council England committed to supporting more arts organisations than it has ever done before (British Ceramics Biennial [BCB] and B-Arts join the New Vic) in the city through its National Portfolio Organisations (NPO) programme, with £4 million committed over the next four years.
City council deputy leader Abi Brown, who is chair of the city’s bid, added: “We are absolutely delighted to be shortlisted to be UK City of Culture in 2021 and will now be working hard to make our final bid the very best it can be. Winning would be the start of a legacy with far-reaching impact that benefits the whole city – it will bring more jobs, more visitors, more top quality cultural activity, boost skills and capacity and increase collaboration, pride and self-confidence across Stoke-on-Trent and beyond. We now need to build on what we’ve done so far to achieve a strong, ambitious final bid that shows the UK exactly what Stoke-on-Trent can do. We know that this is a unique, fantastic city and want to make sure everyone else knows it too.”
Find out more about the bid on the SOT 2021 website.