Rivals submit City of Culture bids to Government

Rivals Coventry and Stoke-on-Trent have submitted their final bids to be UK City of Culture in 2021.

In Coventry, organisers claim that a successful bid would bring massive social, cultural and economic benefits to the city.

The move could easily have been overshadowed by reaction to the Government’s ratification of Birmingham’s bid to be host city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

However, West Midlands Mayor Andy Street was keen to ensure that equal billing went to Coventry by underlining the benefits that would accrue to the city should it receive City of Culture status.

“This is a momentous day for Coventry – just as much as it is for Birmingham,” he said.

“What I would like to see now is the unified approach that has been so successful in Birmingham, repeated for Coventry so that ultimately we can have a double celebration.”

The Coventry City of Culture Trust, the team behind Coventry’s bid to bring the coveted title to the city, have filed a 30-page bid document with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

It includes a wide-reaching programme that would ensure that the whole of the city gets the opportunity to experience and enjoy a wide-range of cultural events and moments throughout 2021.

Coventry is up against Paisley, Stoke, Sunderland and Swansea for the title and Laura McMillan, manager of the Coventry City of Culture Trust, said the time was right for Coventry to tell its story to the world.

She said: “Two years of work have gone into this bid and we couldn’t be more proud of the city or more grateful to everyone who has played a part in it.

“Coventry City Council have backed us, the media have backed us, the two fantastic universities have backed us, businesses have backed us, MPs and the West Midlands Mayor have backed us and, most importantly, the people of Coventry are right behind us.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Coventry to tell its story of reinvention, of resilience, of peace and reconciliation and of youth and diversity to the whole world so we really need this for the city in 2021.”

The bid was delivered to the DCMS by her and representatives from Positive Youth Foundation, which is based in Hillfields.

They arrived at the DCMS in suitable style, in a Coventry-made black cab, which has been transformed into a piece of mobile artwork by Patrick Murphy. Called ‘The Coventry Knowledge’ , the work is part of a two-week artist residency at Coventry Transport Museum. It was temporarily removed from the Cartists exhibition to make the special journey.

Following submission of the bid, Coventry will be visited by the CoC judges in October before the city presents to them in current City of Culture, Hull in December. The winner will be announced in December.

Pictured arriving at the DCMS is Laura McMillan (centre) with representatives from Positive Youth Foundation.

Rival Stoke-on-Trent also chose an unusual way to submit its bid – travelling to the edge of space.

The city’s 30-page bid was taken 20 miles straight up into the atmosphere by balloon. The stratospheric submission accompanied by the city’s distinctive bid logo and a Stoke-on-Trent model duck videoed and photographed against the Earth and the thin blue line separating its atmosphere from the blackness of space.

The stunt was created by some of the city’s leading businesses and education institutions, working with the City of Culture bid team and a specialist aerial photographer, to showcase the creative talents and digital technologies in the city.

Cllr Abi Brown, Stoke-on-Trent deputy leader and chair of the city’s bid, said: “We’re thrilled to be submitting the final bid. It is the culmination of months of hard work, since it was announced we were shortlisted for the title in July. It has been a real city-wide effort involving a huge number of community, resident and art groups; businesses; education establishments; as well as the support of so many partners throughout the region and beyond.

“We think our bid is out of this world – and now we have literally proved it. The journey of sending the submission to the edges of space and the images and footage being beamed back are sensational. It shows our ambition of delivering on a national and international scale, and by capturing the bid logo against the backdrop of the earth it is a statement of intent that Stoke-on-Trent has global appeal.”