Bradford, County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham County Borough have been announced as the four areas shortlisted to be UK City of Culture 2025, with the winning location to be announced in May.

The finalists were whittled down from twenty initial bids to eight longlist applications which also included Cornwall, Derby, Stirling and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon. All bids were asked to explain how they would use culture to grow and strengthen their local area, as well as how they would use culture to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 has seen more than £172 million invested in funding concerts, public art displays, the UK’s first permanent immersive digital art gallery, a new children’s play area in the centre of the city, the new Telegraph Hotel and improvements to public transport.

Sir Phil Redmond, Chair of the City of Culture Expert Advisory Panel, said:
“Culture can act as a catalyst for community engagement, civic cohesion and a driver for economic and social change as previously seen not just in Derry-Londonderry (2013), Hull (2017) and Coventry (2021), but all those other places who went on a journey to develop their own cultural strategy. Simply taking part has proved a catalyst in itself.”

Read the full announcement from the DCMS here