Why should Southampton win City of Culture 2025?
Residents in Southampton are only a couple of hours away from finding out if the city has become UK City of Culture 2025.
The city, known as the Gateway to the World, is rich with history. The team behind Make It So 25, say the bid has galvanised the passion and ambition of people locally, and across the wider region.
Southampton is home to the oldest bowling green, which is from the 1200s. The Titanic set sail from the port in April 1912 and at Queens Terrace, wine importers used to live and store their wine here.
It was the starting point for the Pilgrim Fathers and allied troops in World War Two and cruise ships heading to exotic locations from its ports.
While the city has an impressive past, young people living in the city now are looking to make the most of a successful bid. They pitched ideas through the charity, The Agency, where they won £2,000 for schemes including dance and sport.
Ismaeel Imran said: "I've had the opportunity to put my voice out there and inspire other people to actually do something for this area. If you go to like some places, there would be some sort of rivalries going on, but over here it's just chill."
Christine Ngo Souhe said: "It's to build a creative sense in a way that they use their own imagination to create any sort of dances they want. Building a legacy for yourself and for your future and your family onwards."
Singer and songwriter Craig David is an official ambassador for the Southampton bid and also recognises the importance of legacy.
His father was the bass player in the Ebony Rockers, who burst onto the music scene in the late 70s. The group brought reggae out of the heart of the inner city.
In a video, filmed by the Southampton City of Culture Bid 2025, Craig David explains why he thinks his home city is a winner.
He said: "I am passionate about our city. It's a city that has nurtured me as a kid and has supported me as an adult.
"The city is bursting with culture, much of it made by the people of Southampton, that will always be home in my heart.
"We have our fair share of challenges, especially now, but we who have been born and brought up here and those of us who've come from all parts of the world to make Southampton home, know how brilliant this city is at supporting each other and raising one another up during difficult times.
"A place where ships sail, where great universities attract the best minds, where sports men and women excel, where world-class art galleries are open to all and of course, where you find the new generation of music-makers already emerging. I'm so proud of that talent and the open-hearted generosity of the people of Southampton."
Singer Craig David says Southampton is 'bursting with culture' and should take the title:
Lord Parkinson, Arts minister said: "I really enjoyed my visit to Southampton. I visited all of the four shortlisted places to be City of Culture 2025 and it was a brilliant visit.
"I was greeted by schoolchildren who were singing a song that had been specially composed and the warmth and enthusiasm and the energy from everybody involved was really palpable.
"I was struck as well that the bid team had been thinking about how they could bring in the water, which is such an important part of Southampton's heritage and story. They were saying there are quite a few people in the city and in the wider region who haven't been out in the water, so it was wonderful to see how the plans are thinking of building in the shoreline and the sea, and how that can inspire people to pursue careers in oceanography and science as well as the arts."
Lord Parkinson, Arts minister says he liked how Southampton's bid included the water:
Nadine Dorries is due to make the announcement on BBC1 The One Show at 7pm.
Only one region can win, watch below if you'd like to know more about Bradford, Wrexham and County Durham and their respective bids for the title.
Bradford
Wrexham
Durham
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