Qualla: UK City of Culture https://qualla.com/uk-city-of-culture en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:13 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: UK City of Culture https://qualla.com/uk-city-of-culture UK City of Culture: Introduction https://qualla.com/uk-city-of-culture/ On 15 July 2010, at a televised ceremony in Liverpool, Culture Minister Ed Vaizey opened an envelope and announced the city that would carry a brand-new British honour: UK City of Culture 2013. The winner was Derry, beating Birmingham, Norwich, and Sheffield in the final shortlist. Of the fourteen applicants none had a more complicated case to make. Derry was the smallest city of the four, with the lowest GDP, the highest unemployment, and a name that the bidding process had asked it to brand as 'Derry-Londonderry' to acknowledge the two communities that still called the place by different names. Three years later it would host the festival that proved the entire experiment worked.

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/f/b/uk-city-of-culture-wp/gcfb-uk-city-of-culture-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full UK City of Culture: Liverpool's Idea https://qualla.com/uk-city-of-culture/ The UK City of Culture programme was created in direct response to Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture in 2008. That year transformed Liverpool's economy and reputation - the city, formerly synonymous with industrial decline and football, became a tourist destination....

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/f/b/uk-city-of-culture-wp/gcfb-uk-city-of-culture-liverpools-idea.mp3 0:06 2 full UK City of Culture: Derry 2013 https://qualla.com/uk-city-of-culture/ Derry's year began with a major fireworks display along the River Foyle and ended thirteen months later, having hosted the Turner Prize at the Ebrington Barracks - the first time the contemporary art award had been held outside England. The branding 'Derry-Londonderry-Doire' ackn...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/f/b/uk-city-of-culture-wp/gcfb-uk-city-of-culture-derry-2013.mp3 0:06 3 full UK City of Culture: Hull, Coventry, Bradford https://qualla.com/uk-city-of-culture/ Kingston upon Hull took the title in 2017 with a campaign themed on the city 'coming out of the shadows'. The opening on 1 January 2017 - a fireworks display over the Humber Estuary and a series of sound and light installations called Made in Hull - reportedly drew 25,000 people ...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/f/b/uk-city-of-culture-wp/gcfb-uk-city-of-culture-hull-coventry-bradford.mp3 0:06 4 full UK City of Culture: What Derry Started https://qualla.com/uk-city-of-culture/ When the Culture Minister opened that envelope in Liverpool in 2010, Derry was a city still emerging from the long shadow of the Troubles. The peace process had held for twelve years, but unemployment was high, investment patchy, and the international image of the city was domina...

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]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/f/b/uk-city-of-culture-wp/gcfb-uk-city-of-culture-what-derry-started.mp3 0:06 5 full