CITY OF CULTURE BID D-DAY
The date when Sunderland will learn if it will become the UK’s City of Culture has been revealed.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has confirmed today that a final decision will be made on Thursday, December 7.
The winning city will be announced live by Arts and Culture Minister John Glen on BBC One’s The One Show, which will be broadcast from Hull, the current UK City of Culture, between 7pm and 7.30pm that day.
Sunderland is on a shortlist of five contenders bidding for the 2021 honour along with Coventry, Paisley, Stoke and Swansea.
In the run-up to the eagerly-awaited announcement, The One Show will be profiling each of the shortlisted contenders.
DCMS will also be highlighting the cities, with each being given a designated day to shine on the department’s social media channels.
Sunderland’s day is next Tuesday and the City of Culture bid team wants your support in showing how much the city wants the title.
City of Culture Bid director Rebecca Ball said: “Our final presentation to the judges is in Hull next Thursday morning, so we won’t have too long to wait for a decision.
“We’ve come a long way since first announcing the bid and the support shown by the city and the wider region has been tremendous.”
The bid team is urging Wearsiders to use social media from 9am on Tuesday to showcase people, places, songs and stories that best capture Sunderland using the hashtags #Sunderland2021 and #UKCityofCulture2021 and the tag @ DCMS. Rebecca Ball added: “On Tuesday we want everyone to tell the country who and what their Sunderland cultural icons are – it’s our last push and I hope as many people as possible can support us and show how much this city wants to win this.
“Whether it’s Joseph Swan, Roker beach, Vaux Breweries, Alice in Wonderland, Bob Stokoe, Frankie and the Heartstrings, Penshaw Monument, The Sunderland Echo, LS Lowry, whatever and whoever it may be, we want people to tweet about it, or to share on Instagram or Facebook.”
Keith Merrin, Chief Executive of Sunderland Culture, the company set up to deliver the bid, added: “Next Thursday is an important day for the city and we’re all hoping and praying that the result goes our way.”
The bid has been backed by the Sunderland Echo, local and regional businesses, councils, MPs, colleges, universities, transport companies, health authorities as well as organisations like Sunderland BID, SAFC, Gentoo and local celebrities.
“Everyone to tell the country about Sunderland’ s culture” REBECCA BALL