Minutes:
The Council noted a report from the Leader of the Council as follows:
The Leader thanked everyone involved in the bid to be named UK City of Culture 2025 for all their hard work and for their enthusiasm, commitment and belief. Everyone did an amazing job and should be incredibly proud of themselves.
Sadly, Durham was not named as UK City of Culture 2025 and Bradford was awarded the title. The Leader congratulated them on their success.
While it was disappointing not to have been chosen, Durham should take great pride in having made it to the final four from an initial longlist of 20 bidding areas. That was a fantastic achievement in itself and the exposure County Durham received had been phenomenal, with significant regional and national media interest and support. Earlier this month, the Leader attended the launch of North East Screen, a prestigious event with leading industry figures from across the UK. Everybody the Leader spoke to knew about County Durham and about its City of Culture bid, demonstrating how participation in the award process had raised awareness of Durham regionally and nationally.
There was now a need to seize the moment and build on the enormous wave of public support which had been created, to make the most of the connections and relationships which had been built and harness the innovation and creativity that had come to the fore during the 10 months of the campaign.
Working with Durham University and Culture Durham, Durham was determined to deliver on the ambitious plans within the bid, creating a county of culture that attracted tourists from across the UK and beyond, delivered thousands of new jobs and improved wellbeing.
It was vital that culture remained at the heart of efforts to drive economic growth and level up the region.
With that in mind, it was the perfect time to look ahead at the many cultural events taking place across the county during the coming weeks.
Following the Platinum Jubilee weekend, Durham continued to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s 70-year reign with a picnic and concert at Wharton Park. Durham would also be welcoming the Queen’s Baton Relay on 14 July, ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Durham had a packed programme of events, from live street music to sell-out performances by world-renowned artists, as part of the annual Brass Festival, which once again coincided with the ever-popular Durham City Run.
With so much to look forward even in the short time before the next Council meeting, it was not hard to see that Durham truly was the UK’s County of culture.