West Yorkshire has missed out entirely on the inaugural Town of Culture shortlist, it emerged today.
The region had hoped to capitalise on Bradford’s City of Culture triumph by securing the new Town of Culture designation.
The applicants from the area included Keighley, Ilkley, Guiseley, Yeadon, Otley and Settle.
The government received an impressive 398 applications from more than 400 hopeful locations.
Fifteen towns have been selected to contest the first UK Town of Culture 2028 prize.
The chosen locations span three population categories. Ilfracombe, Isle of Bute, Lerwick, Sandown, Strabane and Stockton Town Centre Ward make up the small towns category. Corby, Great Yarmouth, Leith, Pontypridd and Port Talbot represent medium-sized towns. Basildon, Birkenhead, Grimsby and Rotherham will compete in the large towns section.
Each of the fifteen selected towns will receive £60,000 to develop comprehensive submissions, which an independent panel will evaluate. One finalist will be chosen from each category, with the overall victor to be named in the new year.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy offered her congratulations to the fifteen selected towns and wished them success in the next stage. She noted that the substantial number of applications demonstrated how much pride people take in their communities. When launching the initiative, she had aimed to highlight towns across the UK and their significant contribution to national life. She expressed satisfaction that so many locations had come forward and hoped all applicants, whether selected or not, took pride in championing their local areas.
Nearly 400 towns submitted entries. The independent panel, chaired by Sir Phil Redmond, recommended the shortlisted locations. Panel members were chosen to provide diverse cultural expertise and geographical representation.
Sir Phil Redmond commented that the response to the competition had been remarkable, with entries from across the entire UK. He noted that the passion, ambition and determination of nearly 400 towns to showcase their role in the nation’s story had been tremendous. This enthusiasm had made the shortlisting decision particularly difficult, let alone selecting the winners.
The Government stated that cultural investment delivers clear benefits. Former UK City of Culture hosts Derry-Londonderry, Hull and Coventry secured over £1 billion in additional investment and attracted approximately 2 million visitors. Research from Bradford 2025 indicated that more than 80 per cent of attendees felt the events enhanced their pride in their local area.
To acknowledge all bidding towns, every applicant was invited to submit a postcard celebrating their entry. These were shared on social media platforms and displayed digitally by National Museums Liverpool to recognise every participating town. The postcards will form part of National Museums Liverpool’s collection.