D-day for City of Culture bid
Members of Hull's City of Culture 2017 bid team will gather at Hull Truck Theatre this morning alongside over 100 people who have been involved in the bidding process as the city waits to hear who will win the coveted title.**
Hull's extensive cultural offering will be celebrated throughout the invite-only event with performances from a selection of Hull's home-grown talent.**
The announcement of which city has won the coveted title will be made by Culture Secretary Maria Miller, alongside the chair of the independent panel of culture judges, Phil Redmond.
Members of Hull's bid team will be gathered at Hull Truck from 7am to receive the news alongside members of the public and representatives from the city's arts sector that have been involved in the bidding process.
The announcement follows almost a year of hard work from people and organisations across the city in putting together a powerful bid. Hull's bid also follows the opening of significant cultural arenas in recent years including Hull Truck Theatre, The Albemarle Music Centre, Hull History Centre, Fruit and other independent cultural businesses.**
Eleven cities originally entered and Hull achieved Candidate City status in being shortlisted in June - along with Swansea Bay, Leicester and Dundee.**
Since then a revised and improved bid document - with creative input from 250 culture creators and members of the public - has been submitted to government. A team of ambassadors from the arts, community and the council made Hull's final presentation in the City of Culture bidding process just last week.
Hull's proposed 2017 programme would follow a number of themes to celebrate the city including Roots and Routes, Made in Hull, Freedom and Quirky. Inspired by Larkin's poem 'Days' the ambition is for each day of Hull 2017 to make a difference to a life in the city, the UK and the world.
The proposed programme would include 15 national and international commissions, 12 artists' residencies; 25 festivals; eight major community participation projects; a programme of conferences and major broadcasting events; plus programming activity across 365 days with an estimated 1,500 special events.