Back The Bid – Blackpool vies City of Culture

Blackpool is bidding to become UK City of Culture 2029 – and I want us to win it.

This isn't just a title – it's £10 million and a year-long celebration of arts and culture, designed for local people, that would boost our visitor economy, create new jobs and strengthen our town's creative identity for years to come. Our bid is being submitted on Monday and we want everyone to back it before then.

We're through to the second round, up against eight other places. Blackpool isn't technically a city but due to our size we are eligible for this title – we're the 45th largest place in the UK and the breadth of our cultural life more than earns us our place in this competition.

Blackpool Grand Theatre

Here in Blackpool, culture isn't confined to one building or one postcode. It's Showtown Museum celebrating our entertainment heritage. It's the Grundy Art Gallery bringing national partners and homegrown talent together under one roof. It's the World Dance Championships filling our venues with competitors from across the globe, and it's the brilliant independent arts organisations that takes their programmes into neighbourhoods across the town. This is a town that does culture at every scale, from the grassroots up.

The timing of this is perfect for us. 2029 marks 150 years of the Blackpool Illuminations and 135 years since the Tower and the Grand Theatre first opened their doors, while the Winter Gardens turns 150 the year before. Blackpool has been lighting up this country's imagination for a century and a half — this is our moment to shine.

There's a lot of work still to do to win this bid and I know the competition is strong. But I'll be doing everything I can, working with the council, our cultural organisations and residents across the town, to make sure the case for Blackpool is heard loud and clear.

I’m backing Blackpool's bid and you should to.