What's happened
Fifteen towns have been shortlisted from nearly 400 applications to become the UK Town of Culture 2028. Each shortlisted town will receive £60,000 to develop full bids, with the winner receiving £3 million to host a year‑long cultural programme in 2028; runners‑up receive £250,000 each. The shortlist includes Ilfracombe, Isle of Bute, Lerwick, Sandown, Strabane, Stockton Town Centre Ward, Corby, Great Yarmouth, Leith, Pontypridd, Port Talbot, Basildon, Birkenhead, Grimsby and Rotherham. The decision will be made by an independent panel early next year.
What's behind the headline?
Key takeaways
- The government has shortlisted 15 towns from nearly 400 applications for UK Town of Culture 2028, with funding allocated to bid development and eventual winners.
- The process mirrors the City of Culture model, tying culture to local pride and economic growth.
- Scottish towns Leith, Lerwick and the Isle of Bute are among the list, showing regional spread.
What to watch
- How the independent panel will judge bids and which city will win the £3 million prize to host a year of cultural events.
- The effect on local communities and tourism, especially in smaller towns receiving £60,000 to build bids.
- The role of cultural programmes in economic and social regeneration across the UK.
How we got here
The competition is the successor to UK City of Culture and is run by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It aims to celebrate towns and create a lasting cultural legacy. Previous City of Culture winners include Derry-Londonderry (2013), Hull (2017), Coventry (2021) and Bradford (2025). The 15 shortlisted towns were selected from almost 400 applications; towns are categorized into small, medium, and large based on population. The shortlist was decided by an independent panel chaired by Sir Phil Redmond.
Our analysis
BBC News reports on the 15-town shortlist; Independent covers the allocation of £60,000 bids and the prize structure; The Scotsman highlights Scottish towns and local support; all confirm the same three-category format and the £3m prize.
Go deeper
- Which town will ultimately win UK Town of Culture 2028?
- What kinds of events are expected to anchor the bid in the winning town?
- How might smaller towns use the £60,000 bid funding most effectively?
More on these topics
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Leith - Suburb of Edinburgh and former municipal burgh in Scotland
Leith is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of Holyrood Abbey in 1128 in which it is t
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Lerwick - Town in Mainland, Shetland, Scotland
Lerwick is the main town and port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010.
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Basildon - Town in Essex, England, UK
Basildon ( BAZ-il-dən) is a town in Essex, England. It lies 27 miles (43 km) east of Central London, 11 miles (18 km) south of Chelmsford, and 10 miles (16 km) west of Southend-on-Sea. It gives its name to the wider Borough of Basildon which also include
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Great Yarmouth - Town in England
Great Yarmouth, often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort town in Norfolk, England, straddling the River Yare, some 20 miles east of Norwich. A population of 38,693 in the 2011 Census made it Norfolk's third most populous place. Its fishing industry, mai
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Rotherham - Town in England
Rotherham is a large minster town in South Yorkshire, England which along with its nearby settlements form the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, with a population of 257,280 in the 2011 census.
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Grimsby - Town in England
Grimsby, also Great Grimsby, is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, England, on the South Bank of the Humber Estuary, close to the North Sea.
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Lisa Nandy - Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
Lisa Eva Nandy is a British Labour politician who has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs since 2020. She has been Member of Parliament for Wigan since 2010.
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Coventry - City in England
Coventry is a city, administrative centre and metropolitan borough in England and the United Kingdom. It is built on the River Sherbourne, which remains largely hidden by infrastructure, although it can be seen by the canal.
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Scotland - Country of the United Kingdom
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a 96 mile border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and w
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Phil Redmond - Television producer
Sir Philip Redmond CBE is an English television producer and screenwriter from Huyton, Lancashire. He is known for creating the television series Grange Hill, Brookside and Hollyoaks.
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Hull - Wikimedia disambiguation page
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Port Talbot - Town in Wales
Port Talbot (, UK also ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately eight miles (thirteen kilometres) from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area...
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Corby - Town in England
Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located 23 miles north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport - Government department
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, the building of a digital economy, and some aspects of the media throughout the UK, such as broadc