Record number of UK City of Culture bids with Great Yarmouth and East Suffolk hoping to win

East Suffolk and Great Yarmouth bid.
Credit: ITV Anglia

Great Yarmouth and East Suffolk are one of a record 20 areas applying to become the UK City of Culture 2025. 

Bids were received from Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland but one corner of East Anglia is hoping to get the status. 

The bid focused on the resort towns of Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and Lowestoft which all have centuries of connection with the sea and the world beyond.

The announcement comes after a notorious street artist paid a visit to the area in recent weeks.

Banksy’s ‘spraycation’ saw 10 of his artworks pop up across the region, with the majority being in Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth and Gorleston. 

Politicians announced the bid earlier this year. 

The councils say they share a cultural history which is linked to the sea, beautiful beaches, historic buildings and bordered by the unique Broads National Park.

Their bid showcases the region’s rich and multi-layered culture as well as its "buildings and landscapes", to create "a cultural legacy for future generations."

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, who run the competition, say it helps puts places outside of London ‘on the cultural map internationally’.

The 20 bidders will be reduced to an initial long list in the coming weeks and then cut down further to a final shortlist in early 2022. The winner will be announced in May 2022 and take over from Coventry.

  • Full list of bidders:

  • Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon

  • The City of Bangor and Northwest Wales

  • The Borderlands region, comprising Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders, Northumberland, Cumbria and Carlisle City

  • Bradford

  • Conwy County

  • Cornwall

  • Derby

  • County Durham

  • Lancashire

  • Medway

  • City of Newport

  • Powys

  • Southampton

  • Stirling

  • The Tay Cities region

  • Torbay and Exeter

  • Wakefield District

  • City of Wolverhampton

  • Wrexham County Borough

  • Great Yarmouth & East Suffolk