Cornwall bids for City of Culture 2025
Cornwall will bid to be City of Culture 2025.
For the first time, groups of towns will be able to join together and apply for the title, meaning Cornwall is eligible to bid.
The official announcement comes at the end of the G7 summit, where world leaders met in Carbis Bay to discuss key issues like coronavirus recovery and climate change.
The move would put the UK's cultural spotlight on the county for a year.
It has the backing of creative personalities and cultural organisations across Cornwall and beyond, including national Tate director Maria Balshaw, the Eden Project and Falmouth University.
Actor and writer Dawn French, who lives in Cornwall and is Chancellor of Falmouth University said: "I'm delighted that Cornwall is bidding to be City of Culture 2025.
"Cornwall is a place of huge creativity and culture and while it might seem strange that a rural area is bidding for City of Culture, it is usual for Cornwall to be challenging perceptions and rewriting the rules.
"Falmouth University will be a key partner, using its expertise in the visual arts, theatre and screen industries to help make the case for 2025 to be the year Cornwall takes centre stage."
The competition to find the City of Culture 2025 was launched by UK Culture Minister Oliver Dowden. The winner of the four-yearly contest will pick up the baton from Coventry.
The bid is being led by the Cornwall and Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), the economic development body for the region, in partnership with Cornwall Council.
LEP Chief Executive Glenn Caplin-Grey said: "We want to showcase Cornwall's brilliant creative talent through a diverse and international programme of activity that connects communities across Cornwall to the world and brings lasting economic and social benefits to our region.
"Over the past few days, Cornwall has been in the global spotlight and being able to showcase our creativity through City of Culture 2025 would be a brilliant legacy."
Cornwall is home to world-class institutions from the Tate St Ives to the Eden Project, more than 70 museums and many natural beauty spots.
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