University backs Nottingham's bid to become European Capital of Culture 2023
23 August 2017
Competing against Belfast, Dundee, Leeds, and Milton Keynes, Nottingham’s European Capital of Culture 2023 bid team is confident Nottingham’s entry will be heavily supported by people across the Midlands and beyond, and is calling on locals to become Nottingham 2023 ‘Cultural Lions’.
Paul Russ, chairman of Nottingham's Cultural Strategy Partnership and chair of the Nottingham 2023 board said: “The lions outside the Council House have been a local meeting, gathering and rallying point for decades, we are a proud and inclusive city and urge people of all backgrounds to ‘join our pride’ and help us get to the next stage of the bid by becoming ‘Cultural Lions’.
“Nottingham is an ambitious, young and diverse city with a culture of grassroots collaboration and a history of rebellious innovation.
“As part of the bid, we want to give everyone in Nottingham the opportunity to take part in a project, production or experience and nurture the next generation of creative producers and cultural leaders.
Nottingham has one of the youngest and most diverse populations in the UK, with an average age of just 34. Once the global industrial centre of lace-making, nine out of 10 jobs in Nottingham are now in the service industry, and the city is in the process of reimagining itself as a creative economy for the 21st Century.
Spearheading the Nottingham 2023 bid is Nottingham’s Strategic Cultural Partnership, with support provided by Nottingham City Council, the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University and Marketing NG.
Professor Edward Peck, Vice-Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University, said: “Nottingham Trent has a proud 175-year history of contributing to the cultural and economic development of the region, so we are delighted to be backing the bid and the enormous opportunities that being capital of culture will bring to the City and County.
”The European Capital of Culture programme is an annual competition in which cities from two selected European countries bid for the title. Nottingham’s bid forms part of the Nottingham Cultural Strategic Partnership’s ten year cultural framework plan and will be developed by Festival & Events International.
In 2023 both the UK and Hungary will host a European Capital of Culture. Nottingham has until 17 October 2017 to produce its bid.
For more information visit www.nottingham2023.co.uk.