Hull has been selected as one the four cities to get on the short list for the title of UK City of Culture 2017. The others are Swansea Bay, Leicester and Dundee. Chester was the only other Northern city bidding.
The four short listed cities must now submit full bids to DCMS and the judging panel – which is chaired by Phil Redmond – in September.
The winner is expected to be announced in the late autumn.
The other cities bidding were East Kent, Hastings and Bexhill-on-Sea, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Southampton, Southend-on-Sea and Aberdeen.
Londonderry, which is this year’s UK City of Culture 2013, was the first place to be awarded the inaugural title for what is to be a once every four years occasion.
The initiative was created by the Government following the success of Liverpool as the European Capital of Culture in 2008. Phil Redmond, founder of Mersey TV and the creator of Grange Hill, Brookside and Hollyoaks, was a key figure in Liverpool’s year as European Cultural Capital.
Redmond said: “The UK City of Culture can be a real catalyst for change and I’m delighted so many places registered their interest in the competition for 2017.”
DHA Communications were retained as advisers to Hull’s bid and the Liverpool agency helped to design and co-ordinate drafting of the bid.
Jon Flinn of DHA said: “We knew we’d put really strong bid together which ticked all the technical boxes but told a great story at the same time.
“Hull’s a great city which has always hidden its light under a bushel and we’ve always taken the view that, if we could get short listed, we could go all the way. That said, there’s a lot of very hard work to get the full bid in for the September deadline.”
