Dundee in top three vying for culture title

2023: Bid leader says city’s main rivals for European accolade will be Leeds and Belfast

Dundee has a one-in-three chance of landing the coveted European Capital of Culture title in 2023, one of the men leading the bid has claimed.

Dundee City Council’s director of leisure and culture, Stewart Murdoch, said he believes the city is a front-runner for the prize, which would put it on the international map as a tourist destination

He was speaking at a stakeholder consultation event on the bid at the West Park Conference Centre yesterday morning.

Two European cities will be nominated as Capital of Culture in 2023, one in the UK and another in Hungary.

Six British cities have so far said they will submit bids before the October 27 deadline with Leeds, Belfast-DerryStrabane, Nottingham, Truro and Milton Keynes all throwing their hats into the ring alongside Dundee.

Mr Murdoch said he believes Dundee, Leeds and Belfast will make the most compelling bids.

He said the presence of the V&A, which is due to open next year, and Dundee’s status as a Unesco City of Design gives it an advantage.

He said: “There’s no other single thing that we could do that would put Dundee more on the map.

“Our bid will be massively helped by the existence of the V&A and being a Unesco City of Design; it’s the only city in the UK that has already been recognised as a city of design.”

Bryan Beattie, director of Creative Services Scotland, said: “The V&A is not a full stop, it’s a comma – the story has to continue.”

Mr Beattie told the 150-strong audience winning the title could create 1,600 full-time equivalent jobs in Dundee and bring a 50% tourism boost.

He said becoming a European Capital of culture would have a “catalytic effect” on Dundee.

“A cultural opportunity like this only comes to the UK once every 23 years.”

Although the formal bid will not be submitted until autumn, its themes will be inspired by Dundee’s historic ties with Europe and be heavily influenced by the work of polymath Patrick Geddes.

Geddes is recognised as a pioneer of sociology and town planning.

Other speakers included Theresa Blegvad, a member of the culture committee of Aarhus, one of the current European Capitals of Culture.

She said Dundee the success of any bid will rely on the support of business and a citizen army of volunteers.

She said: “We could not have an event like this without people willing to volunteer. And you will have to decide whether you want a lot of small events or five to 10 really big events.”

Dundee narrowly lost out to Hull to be UK City of Culture 2017. It is expected the winning bid will be revealed in around a year.

Our bid will be massively helped by the existence of theV&Aand being a Unesco City of Design; it’s the only cityintheUK that has already been recognised asacityof design. STEWART MURDOCH