Fifteen towns across the United Kingdom have been shortlisted for the inaugural UK Town of Culture award, a new initiative by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) designed to highlight cultural achievements in smaller communities. The selected locations range from larger urban centers like Basildon and Birkenhead to smaller locales such as the Isle of Bute and Pontypridd.
The shortlist, released on Thursday, includes a diverse mix of communities. Among the larger towns in contention are Basildon, Birkenhead, Grimsby, and Rotherham. Medium-sized towns represented on the list include Corby, Great Yarmouth, Leith, Pontypridd, and Port Talbot. Smaller places that made the cut are Ilfracombe, Isle of Bute, Lerwick, Sandown, Strabane, and Stockton Town Centre Ward.
These 15 towns were selected from nearly 400 applications and will each receive a £60,000 grant to further develop their bids. The competition categorizes towns into three population brackets: small towns (under 20,000 residents), medium towns (20,000-75,000 residents), and large towns (over 75,000 residents).
An independent judging panel will select three winners—one from each category—early next year. The overall UK Town of Culture 2028 will be crowned from these finalists and will receive a £3 million grant to host cultural events. The two runners-up will each receive £250,000 to support parts of their planned cultural programs.
This new UK Town of Culture competition will run concurrently with the existing UK City of Culture 2029 program.