Milton Keynes on 2029 culture shortlist, £10m at stake

Milton Keynes has been shortlisted for the 2029 UK City of Culture title, and the outcome will matter well beyond civic pride. The winner will receive £10m to help develop cultural events, funding that could shape what residents and visitors can see, hear and take part in across the city for years to come. Each of the four shortlisted places will also receive at least £125,000 to take forward elements of its bid, meaning local communities benefit at every stage of the competition.

The city, which only received city status in 2022 as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, will compete against Wrexham, Sheffield and Blackpool. A panel of judges, including Sir Phil Redmond, the creator of Grange Hill, Brookside and Hollyoaks, is due to visit each contender before making a final decision early next year.

For the people who live in Milton Keynes, the bid has already become a shared project. Jane Carr, the Liberal Democrat leader of the city council, said thousands of residents, organisations and the creative community came together over the last nine months to develop it, describing the period as nothing short of inspiring. “This is a huge honour and a tribute to the hard work and vision of everyone who has helped to shape Milton Keynes’ bid,” she said.

The timing carries particular resonance for the city’s own story. Milton Keynes is approaching the 60th anniversary of its founding, and Carr said the community has much to look forward to during that landmark year and beyond. “Whoever is announced as the winner next year, we will enter our 60th year with our heads held high and know that, as our bid sets out, we’re just getting started,” she said.

Culture already plays a visible part in everyday life in the city. Milton Keynes hosts a variety of cultural events, including the summer music festival Reggae Land at the National Bowl, where local poet Maureen Onwunali performed her “Ode to Milton Keynes” to officially launch the city’s bid. By 2029, subject to public consultation, the city could also be home to a “world-class” £76m entertainment venue with a capacity of 4,000 at Elder Gate, a prospect that would add a major new cultural space for public use.

Meanwhile, the rivals on the shortlist bring their own stories. Wrexham, which was also awarded city status in 2022, is famous for its Disney Plus documentary Welcome to Wrexham, featuring Hollywood stars and football club owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Sheffield has put steel-making on the map and is the birthplace of bands like the Arctic Monkeys and Pulp. Blackpool is the fourth candidate on the shortlist, and despite the awards title, larger towns are also able to bid for the prize.

The government has framed the competition as a celebration of communities across the country. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said every place has a story worth telling of its own unique history, identity and contribution, and that it had been amazing to see this year’s bidders for UK City of Culture showcase what makes their community claim such a special place in the national story.

If Milton Keynes is successful, it will follow in the footsteps of Derry in Northern Ireland, Hull, Coventry and Bradford, joining a line of places whose cultural life has been recognised on a national stage. For now, the city’s residents, creative community and civic leaders await the judges’ visits and the final decision expected early next year, with the promise of new cultural investment at stake whichever way it goes.