Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool, Newcastle/Gateshead and Oxford are still in the running to become European Capital of Culture 2008 following the Government?s announcement of a short-list that will be put forward to the final round of the bidding process for the highly coveted title.
Wining cities across the country have been celebrating their success. Northern Arts? Chief Executive Andrew Dixon paid tribute to team that submitted the Newcastle/Gateshead bid, which remains the bookies? favourite for the ultimate title. He said ?The bid?s success at this stage further reinforces the key message that something special is about to happen in the North East ? the cultural equivalent to the Industrial Revolution. We want to share our experience and expertise with cities across the UK and Europe. Whatever the final outcome of the contest for the title, Newcastle and Gateshead will continue to implement their ten-year cultural strategy and a commitment has already been made to cultural regeneration. But this region suffers from extremely high levels of unemployment, and educational attainment levels are low, so the boost to the local economy that would arise from the Capital of Culture title is certainly a prize worth winning.?
The team which led the Bristol bid was equally elated by its inclusion in the shortlist. Andrew Kelly, Director of the Bristol Cultural Development Partnership, said ?We are delighted to be moving forward to the second stage of the bidding process, and everything is in place for us to start delivering what we?ve promised in the bid, with plans for the renewal of a number of the City?s flagship cultural organisations moving ahead, and the Treasure Island book project, which has been designed to get the whole of Bristol reading the same book at the same time, is all set to go early next year.?
Tribute was paid to the efforts of the cities which did not make the final six, namely Belfast, Bradford, Brighton and Hove, Canterbury and East Kent, Inverness and the Highlands, and Norwich. Tessa Jowell said ?For everyone who bid, I am sure that this will be the beginning, not the end, of a journey to put culture at the heart of their city.? This sentiment was echoed by Hilary McGrady, Chief Executive of Imagine Belfast. Addressing staff and supporters on the morning of the announcement, she said ?There are no losers in this process. We mustn?t lose sight of the benefits that bidding for European Capital of Culture status has brought Belfast.
?All of the activity surrounding the bid has been a catalyst for encouraging more positive perceptions of the city ? at home and internationally. We are certainly much more fully aware of where our cultural strengths lie ? and where there remains a lot of work to be done. Culture has been placed at the top of the agenda ? and for the first time, we?ve got real diversity of agencies and organisations across Belfast focused on creating a better city through cultural development.?