Bid to put city to fore of new kind of world festival

Council leader wants Dundee to provide Unesco with blueprint for cultural event

New details have been revealed of an ambitious plan to put Dundee at the centre of a first-of-its-kind global culture festival.

City leaders hope to launch the sixweek Creative Cities World Festival in the run-up to the Edinburgh Fringe in summer 2022.

The event, which has the backing of Unesco, would seek to attract visitors from all 180 cities in its network and become a showcase for each location.

Under the plans, a “window on the world” programme would showcase global collaborations, including one-off events and residencies.

A programme of major popular performances would also take place at key venues throughout Dundee, with “weekend spectaculars” broadcast live to generate maximum audience attendance and international coverage.

A “world village” would be in residence throughout the festival to provide a space for visiting cities to showcase aspects of their culture, food and drink.

Organisers hope it will “stimulate initiatives between cities, strengthen global cultural activities, and help develop hubs of creativity”.

Dundee City Council leader John Alexander, who used a meeting of Unesco city leaders in June to pitch the proposal, said the reaction had been extremely positive.

He said: “What we’re offering is a blueprint. We would be the first city to ever host this kind of event. We will then give Unesco that blueprint and it will roll out across all of the other cities in the network.

“But to be the first to host a global cultural event is no insignificant thing, particularly when you consider what’s happening in the city at the moment with the V&A. We need to continue to build that momentum and showcase what Dundee is all about.”

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop voiced her support for the plans and described the event as “a landmark global moment that will highlight the power and potential of placing creativity at the heart of development plans”.

Picture: Steve MacDougall. Dundee City Council leader John Alexander said reaction to proposals to put Dundee at the centre of a groundbreaking global culture festival has been extremely positive.