East Kent’s City of Culture bid rejected

Canterbury Cathedral

Wednesday, June 19, 2013
11:07 AM

“A City Imagined” project did not make the final shortlist

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EAST Kent’s bid to become the UK City of Culture 2017 has failed to make it through to the final phase.

The independent panel of judges announced this morning that the “A City Imagined” project led by Kent County Council wasn’t worthy of making the final shortlist.

The joint bid, put together by creative businesses and local authorities in Canterbury, Thanet, Ashford, Dover and Folkestone, was up against 11 other bidding locations from around the UK.

Chris Hespe, KCC’s Head of Culture and Sport, speaking on behalf of the East Kent bid team said: “We are all hugely disappointed not to be progressing to the next stage of the competition. We have always believed that East Kent has a powerful case to be crowned UK City of Culture, one that challenges conventions and encourages people to think again about an area they thought they knew.

“Nonetheless the very process of bidding has been a victory in itself – helping us to realise the power of culture to inspire, to excite and to bind the people of East Kent. That such a rich and diverse range of East Kent cultural organisations have come together to craft a bid that has captured the imagination of thousands, is testament to the spirit of partnership and collaboration that the campaign has fostered. This spirit will long outlive our disappointment.

“It is crucial that we don’t lose sight of this powerful collaboration, and the many other positive outcomes that this process has achieved. We have put East Kent on the national map as an area of great creativity, of world-class culture and of commitment to placing the arts at the centre of economic regeneration.

“Regardless of today’s outcome, we remain committed to ensuring that 2017 will be a very special year for East Kent culture – and we will be spending the next few weeks deciding which elements of our proposed programme we will be taking forward – so watch this space!

“The team would like to thank all the individuals and cultural partners who have been involved in this project, and above all to the passionate residents of our City Imagined – the people of East Kent who have shared not only their ideas, but also their energy, their enthusiasm and their unwavering support.

“Finally, we would like to congratulate the four bidders that have been shortlisted to become UK City of Culture 2017 and wish them every success in their efforts.”

The steering committee will meet on July 2 to discuss the next steps.

The successful candidates include:

Hull

Leicester

Dundee

Swansea Bay