UK City of Culture

The UK-wide programme, which is administered by the UK Government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in collaboration with the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, is to "build on the success of Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture 2008, which had significant social and economic benefits for the area".

Phil Redmond was invited to chair a panel set up to consider the proposal, with a remit including deciding how often the prize should be awarded.

[5] The working group stated in its report that the same calendar of events, such as hosting the Brit Awards, should not be staged by each designated City of Culture.

[21] There was also a bid from East Kent (Canterbury, Ashford, Folkestone, Dover and Thanet),[22] and another from Hastings and Bexhill-on-Sea, supported by celebrity Graham Norton.

[29] The event included multimedia sound and light projections onto landmark buildings in the city's Victoria Square[30] as well as a display of Hullywood Icons featuring local people recreating famous scenes from film.

Coventry's win was announced by arts minister John Glen in Hull and broadcast live on The One Show on 7 December 2017.

Glen said it was "an incredible opportunity for Coventry to boost investment in the local economy, grow tourism and put arts and culture centre stage".

Bids from Northampton,[41] Norwich,[42] the Tees Valley,[43] Luton,[44] and Gloucester[45] were withdrawn or ruled out before the final application deadline.

The holder was originally set to be announced in December 2021, but was postponed due to the number of applicants, with a longlist released on 8 October 2021.