What can Ipswich do to win the £10m UK City of Culture prize?

The competition to become the UK City of Culture 2029 is now open.

Ipswich is entering and says it is in it to win it.

It will have to beat off contenders including Wrexham and Portsmouth to win the £10m prize pot.

But what is needed to make that happen? Who is backing the bid, and how will the money be used?

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) runs the competition in a bid to spark regeneration through culture and boost local pride.

The winning area is made UK City of Culture for a year and hosts large-scale events to attract visitors. Other activities are held to try to boost social cohesion and community engagement.

Applicants set out how they would use the £10m prize and share their "vision" for events over the 12 months.

The government says arts and culture must be used as a "catalyst for regeneration" in the bids.

Previous winners have included Hull, Coventry, and, in 2025, Bradford.

Ipswich Town Football Club not only back the bid but also donated £25,000 for the initial "expression of interest" round.

Club chairman and chief executive Mark Ashton said: "We know how to win."

He added: "We want to work with our local community to build a brighter future for everyone in Ipswich, and this bid is really important.

"The three Ed Sheeran concerts in our stadium: it brought 90,000 through our doors and 200,000 people to our business economy over that weekend.

"That's a real impact."

The leader of Ipswich Borough Council, Neil McDonald, said it "brings everything together into one coherent strategy going forward with music, art, spoken word and a bit of heritage too".

Labour MP for Ipswich, Jack Abbott, sees it as the town's regeneration project.

He said: "The only way we can revive the town centre is if we bring in money, and if we bring people into it, the City of Culture bid will do that in spades."

Other organisations have also pledged support, including Ipswich Central, which is the business improvement district for the town centre, The New Wolsey Theatre and Dance East.

An event at the New Wolsey Theatre brought more than 80 of the town's cultural and arts organisations together to discuss the bid.

Becki Blackwood, director at Art Eat Events, described Ipswich's bid as "amazing".

"I am born and bred in Ipswich, and I always take a sense of pride in my town, and you see people step on it and talk bad about it, but there's so much going on here," she said.

"There's so much beauty and there are many things I am proud of, being an Ipswich person."

Hannah Houghton, education lead for the Thomas Wolsey 550 project, believes Ipswich is ready.

She said: "Its story of being the longest continuously inhabited port town has brought in so many stories and so much richness from other cultures.

"I am really excited to show everyone why Ipswich deserves this; we absolutely deserve to be celebrated."

Jake Smith is the artistic director at Eastern Angles, a touring theatre company based in Ipswich.

He lived and worked in Hull when it became City of Culture in 2017.

He said it was transformative for Hull, adding: "It showed people what a fantastic city it was to call home.

"It also changed the stigma, as it was seen as an end-of-line place - you can't go further than Hull on the train line.

"It very quickly became the gateway to Europe, and all of the fantastic events brought tourism in, and that stayed."

Mr Smith believes Ipswich is well-placed to make a bid.

He said: "Ipswich for us is a place we all understand, is a place that is amazing and brilliant, and it's time to show the world that and the rest of the country that."

DCMS says the competition is open to cities, towns, regions or even groups of places.

The winner is decided after three stages:

• Applicants put together what the DCMS call a "light touch" bid, which needs to be in by 8 February 2026

• An expert panel recommends a long list of up to eight who are all awarded £60,000 and invited to submit full formal bids. This list is then whittled down to four bidders, expected to be announced in the summer

• Shortlisted areas present their bids and host the panel of experts, who make a final recommendation to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who announces the winner in December 2026

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