Middlesbrough makes the longlist for City of Culture 2029
Middlesbrough has been longlisted along with Blackpool, Inverness-Highland, Ipswich, Milton Keynes, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Swindon and Wrexham.
All nine places will receive £60,000 each to help them to develop their full bids for the competition. You can find out more about the announcement on our City of Culture news article here.
What would this mean?
Winning has enormous benefits, with previous hosts attracting millions of pounds in additional investment, creating jobs and welcoming thousands of visitors to their local area.
The bid will build on preparations to celebrate the town’s 200th birthday in 2030-31 as Middlesbrough gets ready to host the Turner Prize later this year.
The City of Culture programme would be led by Middlesbrough Council, Teesside University and the Middlesbrough Cultural Partnership – a collective of more than 30 arts and heritage organisations and freelancers.
It would build on Middlesbrough’s history as an inventive and resilient town and aim to change how we do things, imagine a different future and bring people together through a year of cultural activity.
But Middlesbrough isn’t a city?
The government encourages bids from larger towns as well as cities. With a population of over 150,000 people, Middlesbrough is one the biggest towns in the UK and we have a compelling story to tell.
Our creative and cultural scene is thriving
Middlesbrough’s creative scene has been transformed in recent years thanks to the town’s 10-year Creative Vision, which was launched in 2023.
A £4.25m investment from the Cultural Development Fund, administered by Arts Council England, has seen improvements to cultural anchors in the town including:
The town will celebrate its 200th birthday in 2030/31 with a series of events, while Middlesbrough will host the prestigious Turner Prize for the first time later this year.
What happens next?
All nine places will receive £60,000 each to help them to develop their full bids for the competition. For the first time ever, there will be a confirmed cash prize of £10 million for the UK City of Culture winner, announced in December 2026, to help them deliver a show-stopping year of rich cultural activity.
The three most impressive bids from places that reach the shortlist but are not selected as the winner will receive £125,000 each to help them to take forward elements of their bid.
The parmo – a cornerstone of Boro culture
