Lancashire ramps up its bid for UK City of Culture 2025

Lancashire is inviting support from cultural sector experts to boost its bid for UK City of Culture 2025.

The county’s bid was jeopardised in June when the county council withdrew its support.

It estimated the bid would require it to underwrite it to the tune of £22m. The county council had already spent £625,000 on the bid and was committed to another £625,000 this year.

County Cllr Alan Vincent, LCC’s deputy leader and cabinet member for finance said: “We have carefully considered the potential costs and benefits of the bid and have decided that Lancashire County Council can no longer underwrite it.

“Whilst the proposal was strong and ambitious, we felt that underwriting the bid to the tune of up to £22m created too great a financial risk to the council at a time when there are significant pressures on services and our costs, and continuing financial uncertainty following the pandemic.”

However, bid coordinator Lancashire 2025 did submit an expression of interest in July ahead of the deadline, with its chair, Tony Attard, saying the bid was “so compelling we simply could not give up on it”.

Now, the team at Lancashire 2025 is looking to recruit a panel of professional artistic and creative advisors from the cultural sector to play an important role in the development of the county’s bid for the title, which has attracted a record entry list of 20 locations, including Cornwall, Wakefield District, and Southampton.

Lancashire is bidding to become the first county to win the title.

Eight culture sector experts with experience in curating arts and cultures, programming for culture-led regeneration and/or programming for major events with expertise and/or an interest in four discreet topics for cultural regeneration of digital, nature, connection and living are being sought for a Project Selection Group, with applications required by September 3.

The group will shortlist proposals that have been submitted to Lancashire 2025 through an open call for programme ideas, which has been running since April and closes on August 31. They will apply their imagination and knowledge in curation, cultural regeneration and delivery of successful public events, to the selection process aimed at the creation of a winning bid programme for Lancashire.

Debbi Lander, bid director of Lancashire 2025, said: “The success of the bid will be in large part due to the quality, ambition, appeal and deliverability of our programme – all aspects considered by curators, programmers and directors in cultural organisations and settings every day.

“To ensure the success of our bid and the transparency of the selection process we are now looking for experts inspired by our ambition to craft a new and inclusive identity as the Virtual City of Lancashire in which achievements and challenges offer tangible opportunities to re-imagine the emerging cities of the future, and re-invigorate the role that culture-led regeneration can play in realising this vision for regions throughout the UK and beyond.”

She added: “We believe their combined experience and expert eyes, cast across a wide range of new ideas for a programme developed on the theme of The Way We Live, with four discreet topics, will take us one step closer to winning UK City of Culture for Lancashire.”

The successful candidates will be remunerated for their time, and meetings and discussions will be conducted online, opening the opportunity to individuals anywhere in the country.

The bid for Lancashire 2025 is being driven by a strategic partnership between Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Blackpool Council, Preston City Council, the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).

Lancashire 2025 has been established to deliver the bid, overseen by an independent chair and board. Marketing Lancashire is the agency charged with promoting the county on a national and international stage and is the official destination management organisation (DMO) for Lancashire.

The agency also provides marketing and communications support to the LEP and Lancashire 2025.