THE chief executive of Durham County Council hasn’t ruled out planning a bid for the 2029 City of Culture after County Durham missed out on the 2025 title on Tuesday (May 31) evening.
There were some disappointed faces and groans of ‘what might have been’ yesterday evening when County Durham missed out on its chance to host the coveted accolade in three years’ time – with judges preferring to grant it to Bradford.
In County Durham, there was a gathering at Beamish Museum, where a big screen was put up and BBC’s The One Show was broadcast, which saw Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries reveal the all-important decision.
Read more: City of Culture: County Durham misses out to Bradford
As well as major faces from Durham County Council, the event was attended by advocates of the 2025 County Durham bid, such as Steve Cram, Tony Harrington from Durham Culture, Richard Holden MP, and Mary Foy MP.
After the decision rang around Beamish – those connected to the bid were understandably upset – but showed “strength, resilience and determination” in at least submitting a bid and seeing it through.
Following the announcement that County Durham had missed out, John Hewitt, chief executive of Durham County Council, confirmed that he would now “sit down and discuss the next steps,” but didn’t rule out submitting a follow up bid in 2029; the next opportunity the region will have on this platform.
This 2025 accolade would have been the City of Culture’s first opportunity to have a whole county as the winner if they’d have selected County Durham.
Speaking to The Northern Echo straight after the decision was made, Mr Hewitt said: “We’re a little disappointed as you can expect, but we showed good resilience and showed the judges what we can do.
“It’s something to build up, and indeed we’ll sit down over the next few days and discuss what can be done.
“We may not have got the title, but we have put ourselves on the map in the UK.”
When asked about whether County Durham would submit a 2029 bid, he didn’t rule it out, but added: “We need some support from the government to deliver projects we’re working on, but we will discuss whether any future bid gets submitted.
“We’ll battle on and keep delivering great culture for visitors and people of this great region.”
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