Why Portsmouth should win city of culture 2029

A bid is being prepared to make Portsmouth UK City of Culture, as politicians and creatives set out what the title could mean for the city.

Portsmouth’s council leader and local creatives have put their case forward for Portsmouth to become the UK City of Culture.

Portsmouth City Council is preparing a bid to the government for the prestigious status, aiming to be named City of Culture in 2029.

The bid comes as Portsmouth celebrates it’s centenary – marking 100 years since it achieved city status in 1926.

What is the City of Culture and what would it mean for Portsmouth?

The City of Culture is a competition run every four years by the Department for Digital, Culture and Sport, inviting areas to celebrate and use their culture as a catalyst for economic growth, opportunity and community pride.

The winning city is awarded the title and uses the designated year to deliver a programme of cultural activities rooted in its unique identity, highlighting local strengths and stories.

Research shows that the UK City of Culture programme so far (not including Bradford 2025) has stimulated additional investment of more than £1bn.

When asked what the status would mean for Portsmouth, Councillor Steve Pitt, leader of the council, said it would bring “recognition. A vote of confidence and also understanding.”

The city’s “legendary civic pride” would be reinforced, he added, and would “bring all of our communities together and inform the next steps of the journey that the next generation wants us to take, building a strong sense of who we are and who we can be.”

“On a more direct level, it will bring £10m in government funding and Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture last year, showed just how much additional investment the title can bring, attracting a total of £45m over and above any local council contribution.”

He added that “Portsmouth has a powerful story to tell”, being a “gateway to the world for nearly a millennia” thanks to its port, and has a “strong community and creative sector to tell it brilliantly”.

Building the bid
The bid is being prepared in partnership with Portsmouth Creates, a local non-profit organisation that creates opportunities “through and for creativity” by supporting local artists and building pathways into the creative sector.

They said the status “would mean everything” for Portsmouth.

“There’s a real appetite for change throughout the city and we want to use the UK City of Culture competition as an opportunity to put ourselves firmly on the map, using it as a mechanism to tell our unique city story.”

They added that while the investment would go a long way, including a £10m prize, winning the bid could make residents “feel more connected as a city as a result of it, that would be an incredible achievement for us all”.

Portsmouth’s cultural offer has been growing and, they said, “now is our time to shine and showcase this to the rest of the world”, particularly given that there has never been a City of Culture winner in the south of England.

“We know that Portsmouth is a truly special place and whilst we definitely face some challenges in terms of community deprivation, challenging literacy levels and poor health outcomes, we have a lot of stories to tell.

“We are an island city, we are the home of the Royal Navy, we have world class heritage, we have vibrant emerging grassroots organisations and we are a city that is ready to be seen. 2029 is our time to shine.”

Portsmouth’s culture
Cllr Pitt said Portsmouth has an “abundance of cultural icons”, including Portsmouth Football Club, Victorious Festival, the Spinnaker Tower and the D-Day Story museum, “to name a few”.

However, he added that being a City of Culture “is much more than the buildings that host the activities or the destinations that host the history.”

“It’s about the creatives who continually help the city to reinterpret itself, which we see through Look Up Festival, Portsea and Paulsgrove Carnivals and the many projects that emerge every year with and for our communities.”

Portsmouth Creates said they have been asked, during the many consultations they’ve delivered across the city, to define Portsmouth’s culture, but said “that is not up to us, it should come from the city”.

They said it could be a “Saturday at Fratton Park” backing the blue army, the vibrant food and drink scene, the magazine bought from a local newsagent or the book borrowed from a library.

“Of course we have incredible cultural assets, many of which include places and spaces such as Aspex Gallery, The D-Day Museum, Portsmouth Guildhall, The Wedgewood Rooms, The Mary Rose Museum and hidden gems such as Casemates Studios in Hilsea.

“Portsmouth has such a rich cultural offering so it’s hard to pick just a few. Culture is for everyone and we want to use it to unite the city and bring our communities together.”

Defining aspects of Portsmouth’s culture also include its literary history, as the birthplace of Charles Dickens and the home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, where he wrote the first Sherlock Holmes novel.

Hotwalls Studios is often described as one of the city’s cultural hubs, where a derelict military barracks in Old Portsmouth has been transformed into studios for artists to showcase and sell their work.

The Look Up Street Art Festival brings local and international artists to Portsmouth to brighten the city’s streets, transforming buildings across the area.

Portsmouth’s military history is among the most significant in the UK. The city has been home to the Royal Navy for more than 800 years and is the base of Nelson’s HMS Victory, HMS Warrior and the Mary Rose, as well as Southsea Castle, established during the reign of King Henry VIII in the 1500s.

During the Blitz in the Second World War, Portsmouth was a major target, suffering 67 air raids, and later acted as a primary embarkation point for the D-Day landings in 1944.

Who else is bidding?

Southampton was shortlisted alongside Bradford when the West Yorkshire city won the title in 2022. At the time, it was suggested Southampton had been “overlooked” due to its south coast location.

Cllr Pitt said Southampton secured more cultural investment following its 2022 bid and added, “I think the same would be true here”.

“If we win, that’s a fantastic outcome but just putting on a good showcase of Portsmouth during our centenary year as a city is also going to have a big impact and this bid aligns really well with this. We get to have a lot of fun whilst trying to win something hugely worthwhile.”

So far, Bristol, Plymouth, Ipswich and Wrexham have confirmed they are bidding.

The deadline for expressions of interest closes on February 8. If Portsmouth makes it onto the longlist, it will submit a full application by the summer.

The shortlist will be announced in the autumn, with the winner revealed in the winter.
 

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