CULTURE CLASH
Now Bangor vies with Conwy in race to become next UK Culture Capital
BANGOR has joined Conwy in launching a bid to become UK Capital of Culture.
Leaders of the campaign – organised by Gwynedd Council in partnership with Bangor University, Bangor City Council and other partners – want to see Wales’ oldest city become the fourth holder of the title, following in the footsteps of Derry, Kingston upon Hull and Coventry – and the first in Wales.
But wanting to capitalise on its links with the slate industry – with the slate landscape of North West Wales having been granted Unesco World Heritage status – they also see benefits for the wider community in both Arfon and Anglesey.
The bid will see Bangor face competition from other areas in the UK including Conwy, based just 15 miles away, while hoping to build on the city’s status as a multicultural community.
Gwynedd council leader Dyfrig Siencyn said: “We want Bangor to perform as a global, inclusive and thriving city by harnessing our rich and distinct heritage, language and culture to ensure an innovative and prosperous future for the communities and businesses of the city and North West Wales.
“We want people from the area, the UK and the world to feel they want to come on a journey to Bangor, to feel welcome in the city and that they understand, appreciate and celebrate our amazing and unique area.
“Past Cities of Culture have had a very urban focus, and while Bangor is the main urban conurbation in the region, we believe that our bid can connect between urban Bangor and the surrounding rural hinterland.”
With Bangor’s ancient roots dating back to the sixth century, Cllr Siencyn added: “This bid will celebrate our Welshness, our different cultures and our connections to other UK cities and the world.
“Where else can claim to have roofed the industrial revolution and in particular towns, cities and villages across the UK, the Commonwealth and the world?”
Bangor Mayor Owen Hurcum added: “Culture speaks for itself in Bangor.
“We are the oldest city in Wales, our cathedral has the oldest foundations of any still in use, we have the sea, the mountains, and a dockyard that sent slate all around the world.
“Indeed, that globalism is still here in our city, whilst we are proudly the city with the highest proportion of Welsh speakers in the world and thanks to our world-leading university that we have had since the 1880s we are also home to hundreds more languages and cultures that make Bangor truly the multicultural city we are and thoroughly deserving of this title.”
Visits to shortlisted destinations by the advisory panel, chaired by Sir Phil Redmond, will take place next year, with the winner to be announced in May.
Iwan Davies, Vice-Chancellor of Bangor University, concluded: “The University welcomes the City of Culture 2025 proposal being led by Gwynedd County Council and the opportunity it affords Bangor and the surrounding area.
“The city has so much to offer across of the UK and internationally and the university is proud to be in a position to contribute should the proposal succeed.”