Portsmouth to learn UK City of Culture 2029 fate next month
The city will learn whether its bid has made the shortlist in mid-October, with the winner due to be revealed in January 2027.
Portsmouth will find out next month whether its bid to become UK City of Culture 2029 has made the shortlist – and the tight-lipped council leader has promised there are some “wow things” in there.
The shortlist for the national title is expected to be announced in mid-October, with the winner due to be revealed in January.
The UK City of Culture is awarded every four years, giving the winning place funding, events and opportunities to showcase its culture, heritage and communities.
Portsmouth was longlisted for the award in March alongside eight other locations before submitting its bid in August.
Claire Looney, the council’s partnership and commissioning manager, said the next stage was a “waiting game” until the shortlist is “hopefully” announced in mid-October.
If Portsmouth makes the cut, judges would visit the city in late November or December, with the winner announced in January 2027.
The other contenders are Blackpool, Inverness and the Highlands, Ipswich, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Sheffield, Swindon, and Wrexham.
Cllr Steve Pitt said he “can’t talk about the bid because it’s business confidential because it’s up against all the other bids”.
He added: “You might say well it’s been submitted now so why does it matter.
“I know what’s in it, but I’m not going to talk about it – we don’t want other people nicking our ideas before the actual announcement in October when we are shortlisted.
“There’s a couple of wow things in there that we’re certainly not going to reveal our hand on.”
Cllr Russell Simpson admitted: “I know a little bit, it is all very hush hush.”
The council report said the bid aims to catalyse “long-term social, economic and civic change” and is not intended to be “solely a one-year programme of cultural activity”.
It seeks to tell Portsmouth’s “distinctive story as the UK’s only island city: a place shaped by the sea, by migration, by naval and maritime history, by working class identity, by resilience and by a strong sense of local pride”.
Before the bid was submitted, around 250 hours of consultation work was undertaken, reaching 12,000 local people.
The consultation identified “recurring themes” around “inclusion, participation, belonging, sense of identity, storytelling, hidden histories, grassroots and untapped potential, spaces and infrastructure, visibility, hope, transformation, ambition and opportunity”.
So far, the council has provided a £120,000 grant and some “dedicated staff support”, alongside a £60,000 government grant.
Cllr Pitt said additional spending would be required if the council is shortlisted, with this to be identified through cabinet portfolio reserves.