Peterborough UK City of Culture Bid FAQs: How much it costs, the financial prize, who else is bidding and what is the criteria
This week Peterborough confirmed it would be bidding to become the UK City of Culture in 2029.
The bid has had got the people of Peterborough talking – with some pointing out the great cultural sites in our city, with others taking a more negative point of view.
The Peterborough Telegraph is firmly behind the bid, and we believe it could bring great benefits to our city.
But there have been numerous questions about the proposal – here we aim to answer some of them:
How much has the bid cost tax payers?
Peterborough City Council said that submitting an Expression of Interest – which is what the city has done so far – has not cost tax payers a penny.
The council said Submitting an Expression of Interest will not cost local taxpayers anything. The work is being delivered using existing capacity, partnership working and in-kind support. Any future stages would be subject to separate decisions, and only the winning city receives UK Government funding.
If Peterborough was successful, the City of Culture programme would be delivered through significant national investment and other external funding, rather than local council budgets.
What are the criteria?
There are a range of criteria that the judging panel will take into account that have been listed by the Government.
These include:
Share and celebrate a uniquely local story and vision which uses culture and creativity to transform a place
Create transformative opportunities and richer lives for people and communities
Create a sustainable economic impact by delivering good jobs and boosting growth in your place or wider region
Champion quality and innovation
Reach out locally and across the UK to work with a range of diverse partners
Maximise the legacy of the UK City of Culture programme
What is ‘culture’ according to the criteria?
Applicants are encouraged to include activities encompassing a broad definition of culture and its creative industries. This includes but is not limited to: visual arts, literature; music; theatre; dance; combined arts; architecture; crafts; design; heritage and the historic and natural environment; museums and galleries; libraries and archives; film, broadcasting and media; video games; animation, visual and special effects; photography, and publishing.
What are the benefits of bidding – and of winning?
The Government have said ‘Research has shown that the UK City of Culture programme so far (not including Bradford 2025) has stimulated additional investment of over £1 billion, and that more than 70% of attendees to UK City of Culture events feel a greater sense of pride. In the first six months of Bradford’s title year, their programmes reached over one million people, including 11,000 pupils and more than 2,000 volunteers from every ward in the district.’
It has not all been good news for cities that have won the competition – BBC reports suggest that the charity that ran Coventry City of Culture collapsed ‘due to a series of errors.’
Coventry was City of Culture in 2021.
There is a guaranteed £10 million prize money for the winning place to support them with the delivery of their programme, as well as £125,000 resource grants for each of the (up to) three ‘runners up’ to allow them to take forward some elements of their bid.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will award bid development grants of £60,000 to each of the (up to) eight longlisted places which are invited to submit a full application.
When will we know who is in the longlist, the shortlist, and who has won?
The deadline for Expressions of Interest to be submitted is Sunday, February 8.
The eight places to have made the long list are set to be announced at the end of March.
The shortlist will be announced in the autumn, with the winners announced in the winter.
Which cities have entered?
There are actually two competitions running – city of culture and town of culture 2029
Some of the confirmed entries for City of Culture are actually towns – but may have submitted expressions of interest for both competitions.
Which cities have been UK City of Culture in the past?
Derry – Londonderry was the first UK City of Culture in 2013
Hull held the title in 2017
Coventry was named City of Culture in 2021
Bradford was the City of Culture in 2025