Wrexham are one step closer to securing the UK City of Culture 2029 title, as they officially make the longlist of finalists. Competing against 9 places from across the UK, the race to the top has officially begun.
Wrexham is the only Welsh city bidding for the title, which provides an excellent opportunity to celebrate the uniqueness of Welsh culture and put the whole of Wales in the national spotlight by flying the flag for Wales.
Being longlisted helps to highlight the evolving story of Wrexham. As a county already steeped in culture, this recognition adds even more momentum to the incredible things already happening across the county, including the recently opened Creative Industries Hub, the soon-to-open National Football Museum for Wales, the exciting development of Stori Brymbo, the newly developed Public Art Trail and a growing calendar of vibrant cultural events.
Looking ahead of the longlist, if Wrexham win the 2029 title, they could secure £10 million from the UK Government, helping to attract investment, boost tourism and improve access to arts and culture in the area and across the region. Winning could also help grassroots music and sport, support people working and living in the area, back new infrastructures, and generally make Wrexham an outstanding place to live, work and visit.
Having narrowly missed out on the win in the 2025 competition, Wrexham are more eager than ever to declare victory this time round. But the title doesn’t just include boasting rights. It’s estimated that the investment could further generate more than £200 million for the whole region in years to come. This is something seen similarly by previous winners of the bid, with Hull and Bradford, for example, seeing positive outcomes from their initial investment.
A Welsh city has yet to hold the UK City of Culture title. Success for Wrexham extends far beyond the city and its surrounding counties; a victory would provide a significant boost to the cultural profile of Wales as a whole. National support is vital to demonstrating why Wales is a worthy contender on the UK stage, with the whole country encouraged to back Wrexham’s bid.
Amanda Evans, Culture Bid Director at Wrexham Community & Culture Trust comments:
“We are delighted to make the longlist and are more driven than ever to win the UK City of Culture title for 2029.
“Winning the bid will help to secure a bright social and economic future for Wrexham, bringing new opportunities for people who live and work in the area, as well as supporting our arts and culture sector in more ways than ever before. This is a really, really exciting time for us and we are committing everything over the next few months to put Wrexham on a global stage and show why we are worthy of winning the title.”
“Thank you to everyone in Wrexham council who have supported our campaign so far. It’s always massively appreciated.”
Councillor Hugh Jones, Wrexham Council’s lead member with responsibility for City of Culture, said:
“This is fantastic news, and means we’re firmly in the race for UK City of Culture 2029.
“We can now move forward with confidence as we begin to build the case for making Wrexham the UK’s cultural focal point in 2029. Wrexham has so much to offer, and the competition will provide a fantastic platform for us to showcase the county borough.
“Congratulations to the bid team and Culture Trust for all their hard work – we are in it to win it.”
Wrexham will now be invited to submit a full application to the UK Government Department for Culture, Media & Sport by Summer 2026. This application will demonstrate Wrexham’s ambition and ability to deliver, while creating a strong vision for culture in the county and show a panel of judges how the whole community is backing Wrexham’s bid.
Following the submission, a shortlist of up to 4 places will be announced in Autumn 2026.
