Congratulations to our very own city of Hull for last week been named UK City of Culture 2017. The bid gained the unanimous backing of the judging panel and saw off competition from Dundee, Leicester and Swansea Bay.
The city was praised for showing “real understanding” of what the title is about in a bid built around the theme “a city coming out of the shadows”. It will take over from Derry-Londonderry, the current and inaugural UK City of Culture, in 2017.
The victory means the city will stage a £12m programme of arts and cultural events during 2017, including 25 major festivals and spectacular opening and closing ceremonies. It is anticipated the opening ceremony will feature 3,000 volunteers paying tribute to its heritage as a major fishing port, with the planting of thousands of trees. The programme will also include more than 1,500 individual events and 12 artists’ residencies.
The success owes something to social media which saw over 16,000 people backing the bid and #HullYes trending six times UK-wide on Twitter during the bid campaign.
I’m sure you’ll agree this is brilliant news for Hull and a big well done to everyone involved in the bid!