Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, has announced a new competition to select the UK Town of Culture 2028. As she says in her introduction to the competition, “Everybody deserves the chance to share their pride in the place they call home and to have access to quality art, music, dance and drama wherever they live. That is why we are launching the UK Town of Culture. To celebrate towns and help to create a lasting cultural legacy.”
Introducing the opportunity in Monday’s town council meeting, the mayor said there was strong support from the community that the town should apply. At the same time, he also introduced a note of caution, saying the competition will be fierce and the work required to submit a full bid extensive and time consuming.
Councillors agreed that Rye punches well above its weight in many areas that directly address the requirements of the competition, and it was decided unanimously that the town should submit an expression of interest. To do this, the mayor was pleased to be able to confirm that David Angell, organiser of Rye Arts Festival, had volunteered to manage the preparation of the application.
The government will select the best small, medium and large towns from the full applications that they receive. One of these will be named UK Town of Culture 2028 and receive £3 million, while the other two finalists will each receive £250,000 to deliver an ambitious programme of cultural activity in 2028. This is in addition to development grants for shortlisted places to work up their full bids.
The deadline for expressions of interest for UK Town of Culture 2028 is 31 March 2026, with the shortlist of towns expected to be announced this spring.
In other business, councillors were asked to consider whether to respond to the Government consultation on the design of a new mayoral power to create visitor levies on overnight stays in England.
Led by Councillor Hughes, councillors expressed concern that money raised by a central strategic Sussex mayoral initiative from local businesses would be unlikely to directly benefit Rye. Councillor Hoggart cited France, where similar initiatives support local residents but this was felt to be unlikely to happen through a centralised programme. Councillors agreed to respond with a request to ensure that any money raised locally is allocated to local programmes only.
Image Credits: KT Bruce , Department of Culture, Media and Sport https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-ever-uk-town-of-culture-competition-to-restore-pride-in-communities .