WITH not long to wait to find out if County Durham has been successful with its City of Culture 2025 bid after a long campaign of trying to showcase culture, diversity, and individualism to head judges.
On Tuesday (May 31), the region will hold its breath at 7pm – as people tune in to BBC’S The One Show – where County Durham will battle it out for the title against Wrexham, Southampton, and Bradford.
During the special ‘City of Culture’ programme, there will be sections showing what each location has to offer if it’s successful for the accolade, before the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport, who are coordinating the award, will announce the winner.
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Just before the announcement, The Northern Echo have looked into everything you need to know about City of Culture, The One Show, and what people have said about County Durham’s chance.
If successful, County Durham will become the first regional winner of the prize.
How can I watch the announcement?
The winner will be revealed on BBC’s The One Show live at 7pm – government secretary Nadine Dorries is understood to be doing the announcement.
How good are County Durham’s chances?
According to County Durham bid director, Alison Clark, it would attract more than 15 million visitors, inject hundreds of millions of pounds into our economy and create and safeguard thousands of jobs if the region was the winner.2010
She said: “In short, becoming UK City of Culture 2025 would be a game changer for County Durham and the North East.
“County Durham boasts spectacular landscapes, award-winning attractions, and a rich heritage, including a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“However, it also faces many challenges. Our last coal mine closed a generation ago but many of our communities are still feeling the impact of the decline of traditional industries.”
Is there any indication about who the winner will be?
The winner is approved by the Culture Secretary based on independent advice from a panel of experts led by TV writer-producer Sir Phil Redmond.
The experts visited each of the four shortlisted places, Bradford, County Durham, Southampton, and Wrexham County Borough, to learn more about the bids before making their final recommendation.
In each of these visits, the judges spoke about the positives of each place – but no indication has been made on the preference of the judges.
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