A plan for the world's largest arts prize is included in Cardiff's ambitious bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2008.

The prize is one of 300 project proposals tabled in the official glossy bid document which goes on public display on Wednesday in libraries around Wales.

This must represent the ideas of a whole city and, in fact, a whole nation Cardiff 2008 bid chief exectuive Lynne Williams

The �50,000 Cardiff International Arts Prize is at the centre of the city's bid which has drawn ideas from across Wales.

A latecomer to the race, Cardiff submitted its bid for the city of culture accolade to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in London in March.

The bookies favourite - supported in a recent BBC News Online poll of 12,000 people - is the joint submission of Newcastle and Gateshead, in England's north-east.

Liverpool, Oxford and Belfast are also considered strong contenders while the Welsh capital trails behind.

However, the chief executive of the Cardiff 2008 bid Lynne Williams, has confidence that the Wales bid can successfully play catch-up.

Culture bidders

Bradford Bristol Birmingham Belfast Brighton Canterbury Inverness Liverpool Newcastle Gateshead Norwich Oxford

A major plank of the bid has been inclusivity and it includes an all-Wales dimension.

"We said to the community and Cardiff, in the first instance, we didn't just want to write a bid which is about people sitting up in a room somewhere thinking up ideas," said Ms Williams.

"This must represent the ideas of a whole city and, in fact, a whole nation," she said.

If successful the bid would create thousands of jobs in south-east Wales and thrust Cardiff firmly onto the international stage.

The bid also includes festivals to celebrate dance music in 2008 when Cardiff will also play host to the cultural festival the National Eisteddfod.

A successful bid would place Cardiff on the international map

Forging musical links with fellow ports across the world is another theme, as is a scheme for residents to write the history of Cardiff in verse.

Cardiff 2008 plans to spend almost �28m each year on arts projects which will also double up as celebrations to mark the city's centenary in 2005.

A large tranch of that money is as yet unsecured but the project believes that much of the extra funding can be drawn from bodies such as the Cardiff County Council and the Arts Council for Wales, which has been given a large increase in its budget by the Welsh Assembly.

It also believes financial support could come from the European Commission - as Cardiff will be eligible for some Objective 2 and 3 funding.

The European Council awards the title of European Capital of Culture to a different city every year.

Cardiff 2008 chief executive Lynne Williams

In 2008, it is the UK's turn to compete for the accolade last held by Glasgow in 1990.

Cardiff will learn in the autumn if it has been short listed, with the eventual winner being named next spring.

However, putting together the bid has been far from plain sailing.

A year ago, those responsible came under fire from the council's very own consultants.

The report obtained by BBC Wales highlighted a number of serious weaknesses in the city's cultural life, including the lack of a modern Welsh art gallery.

On top of that they criticised the absence of a cultural strategy and said Cardiff was late planning its bid, compared to its competitors.