The Uk City of Culture isn't really work much tbh. There's no direct funding for it & it bears no comparison to the European City of Culture accolade. The Govt started the UK version after the success of Liverpool's European City of Culture year in '08.
So what is the criteria for selection does anyone know - is it to do with what we have/what we will do in the year/what the legacy will be. Looking at the judges, rather imbalanced in terms of where they come from. the BBC Breakfast report on Hull's bid this morning showed us in a positive light, can someone remind me and any others who is on the team getting us to win it
Wasn't it Play School OLM? On another point, a few days ago, I spoke to one or two folks who were involved in the Derry bid/events management and they said for every £1 spent, they've made £5 back! I heard that again this morning on Burnsy's show. If Hull doesn't get it this time, they MUST MUST bid again for the next one.
If that's true, and hull win it, I'd recommend whoevers in charge of it all spends the entire budget on hull city garden gnomes and dot them all over the city for the year, that way it will pump revenue into the club aswell and then the 400% profit can then be spent on the city itself.
Ha ha ha that is hilarious. We must be favourites against those 3 surely? I've been to Dundee. I've been through Leicester. And got pissed in Swansea. We have the fish trail.
The transformation in Liverpool is just something else, but given that it was European City of Culture but i doubt that makes much difference apart from maybe more funding? Swansea Bay shouldn't even be allowed to bid, they have literally just bidded the bay area that would be like us bidding with Hessle Foreshore or The Marina, how many events are they seriously planning on hosting and where is the culture? Dundee, good shout, bit like a Scottish Hull (They even have a bridge too) Leicester, also like Hull with the nice city centre and not too much else! But their diverse city is probably the reason they got chosen. But i'd say the fact Hull has a docks, marina and the Humber Bridge gives it the edge over Leicester. I'm intrigued to see what all of these events are, also if i'm right to thinking does the winner also host Radio 1's Big Weekend? I know Derry-Londonderry have just hosted it but i didn't know if that was just a coincidence if not than that is a big crowd puller but i doubt they could host that like they did Freedom, they'd need a big field and open space...
Swansea Bay (Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Neath and Port Talbot) Local stars: Dylan Thomas, Catherine Zeta Jones, Russell T Davies. Cultural landmarks: Swansea's Glynn Vivian Art Gallery is having a £6m facelift. The town of Port Talbot was the stage for the National Theatre Wales' 72-hour production of The Passion starring Michael Sheen in 2011. Plans: A festival for unsigned musicians, a high-tech history laboratory and a children's pageant of drama, song, dance and design. Odds: 2/1 (all odds from William Hill) Dundee Local stars: Lorraine Kelly, Brian Cox (the actor), The Average White Band. Cultural landmarks: The V&A is due to open a £45m branch in Dundee in 2015. The Dundee Contemporary Arts gallery and Dundee Rep theatre both have national reputations. Plans: "Ours is a people's bid showcasing our strengths, combined with a desire to take forward a new momentum to encourage even more exciting developments for the population of the city." Odds: 7/2 Hull Local stars: Philip Larkin, The Housemartins, Maureen Lipman. Cultural landmarks: The Ferens Art Gallery broke visitor records with a Da Vinci exhibition last year. The Hull Truck theatre was a national force in the 1970s and 1980s and is starting to get back on track. Plans: 1,500 events, 25 festivals - including a city-wide flag festival - and 12 artists' residencies, including a composer in residence on the Humber Bridge and a resident choreographer at the KC Stadium. Odds: 11/4 Leicester Local stars: David and Richard Attenborough, Engelbert Humperdinck. Cultural landmarks: The Curve Theatre opened in 2008 at a cost of cost £61m - more than double the original budget. The University of Leicester will open its new contemporary arts venue in early 2015. Plans: The bid has a theme of Illuminating Culture, with "new commissions, outdoor spectaculars and festivals, both existing and new" as well as a series of public art commissions. Odds: 9/4 In terms of Plans, Hull sounds the best so far, the others don't seem to have put as much effort into the planning of when they win and instead just focused on what they have already
It's city centre is far nicer, and actually has open shops and people visiting. There's far more choice is food/restaurants. There's more jobs/less unemployment (and a higher population). It doesn't have it's own awful phone/Internet company do you can get a properly decent line. The architecture is nicer. It doesn't have it's own dedicated tv programme about the scumbags and their illegal activities. There's more nightclubs/bars. There's a more diverse culture. It's society isn't personified to the world by its football clubs shirt sponsor. It has 2 properly big sporting teams compared to hulls one (I wouldn't consider hull fc as big nationwide) It's further away from Scotland. As its closer to the equator it has better weather. It doesn't have councillors Brady and Gerraghty running the place. You don't have to pay to leave/enter the city from the south. It has a giant slide for university students to piss down at their leisure. 2 universities which both attract international students. The M1 runs right past it. Red Leicester was invented here. It doesn't have people who shag goats infront of trains full of women and children. And many more things I'm sure I'm forgetting
Leicester is a **** pit in comparison mate. Hull is given bad press because no-one ever passes through it & most only recognise the images that the media have portrayed it as. Yes it's got a couple of iffy council estates, but so has every City, but what most people don't know about Hull is aside from those limited areas, it's a great place to live, with some great villages surrounding it, some of which are extremely exclusive. It's a much better place that it's given credit for & certainly better than Leicester.
There's one of those police programmes based in Hull. Don't know if its still on, mrs has watched it a few times though and I remember it being brought up on here.
i always understood it not to be a competition on which "City" is the most cultured now . . . but which area would benefit best from a cultural investment . And that doest mean the least culturally inclined city either . . . just the one most receptive to the very idea. As for the odds all four look pretty even and theres no outside be on the list really just yet.
The surrounding countryside and villages are **** all to do with the city and even if they were, Leicester has beautiful surrounding areas with rich history. Even Yorkshires favourite log found it fit to die here.
If the committee don't give us the bid, we'll kick their 'eds in. It's a plan that's got us onto the short list, why abandon it now?
