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Blackpool, Ipswich, Milton Keynes among nine finalists for UK City of Culture 2029

Paul GlynnCulture reporter
News imageGetty Images A composite image of three stock photos shows on the left the Blackpool Tower against a backdrop of the city skyline, in the middle a view of the Ipswich Waterfront with yachts and small boats floating on the river in front of buildings next to the water, and on the right an aerial view of the Milton Keynes Rose - a circular park feature with stones in the middle - against the backdrop of buildings in Milton Keynes.Getty Images
(L-R) Blackpool, Ipswich and Milton Keynes are among the shortlisted cities, alongside Inverness-Highland, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Swindon and Wrexham (not pictured)

Blackpool, Inverness-Highland, Ipswich, Middlesbrough and Milton Keynes are among the places in the running for the title of the UK's City of Culture 2029.

The nine-strong longlist, released on Wednesday by the government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), also includes Portsmouth, Sheffield, Swindon and Wrexham.

Each city will now receive a £60,000 funding boost - up from £40,000 during the last city of culture competition - to develop a full bid.

The winning city, which will succeed Bradford, will be announced later this year; and receive £10 million to deliver a year's worth of cultural activities drawing on its "local strengths and stories".

The three next most impressive bids will receive £125,000 each to continue with some of their planned projects.

Announcing the shortlist, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she would "look forward to seeing what the nine longlisted places have in store".

She also urged towns across the country to enter the adjacent, innaugral Town of Culture award competition before it closes on 31 March, in order to show what makes them "unique" in 2028.

"For far too long, opportunity has not been shared equally across the country," she said.

"The UK City of Culture and new UK Town of Culture competitions recognise the enormous contributions made by communities all over the UK who are all part of the story of who we are as a nation."

'Changing perceptions'

The UK City of Culture longlist was selected by an independent panel of advisory experts, chaired by Grange Hill, Brookside and Hollyoaks writer Sir Phil Redmond.

Sir Phil said the competition would give each city the chance to use "culture as the creative catalyst for change, raising awareness and changing perceptions".

He added that previous winners, Derry-Londonderry, Hull, Coventry and Bradford, had all "demonstrated the quality and depth of cultural activity embedded across the UK, as well as the benefits of simply taking part.

"The competition brings people together, to talk to each other rather than at each other, sharing commonality and tolerating difference. Above all, allowing places to demonstrate their own pride in their places."

Research by the University of Warwick and Coventry University, said that Coventry's year as City of Culture helped to generate more than £183m for the local economy.

Last year Bradford hosted the prestigious Turner Prize exhibition as part of its programme of cultural celebrations. The show drove a 44% increase in visitors to the city's Cartwright Hall.