Campaign to make Wrexham UK City of Culture officially underway

Alec Doyle, Local Democracy Reporter

The campaign for Wrexham to become UK City of Culture in 2029 is officially underway, and it could be worth £1 billion to the local economy.

On Wednesday, Wrexham Community and Culture Trust (WCCT) was granted charitable status, enabling the organisation to start inviting artistic, cultural and heritage organisations from across Wrexham to contribute to the bid.

The news comes hot on the heels of the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport formally announcing the process for cities to apply to become the next UK City of Culture on October 30.

WCCT now has until January to submit its bid, with the long list of eight cities announced in February and the shortlist of four finalists revealed in summer 2026.

As Cllr Hugh Jones, Lead Member for Strategic Planning and Public Protection, presented a Wrexham 2029 update report to Wrexham County Borough Council’s Employment, Business and Investment Scrutiny Committee this week, he said that lessons had been learned since 2025, when the city narrowly missed out to Bradford.

“It is now all systems go for the UK City of Culture 2029 which is great news considering the amount of work that we have already put in,” he said.

“The thing that is different from our bid in 2025 is the fact that it is being led by a Trust supported by the council. The feedback we had last time was that  as a council we did a good job, but it needs to be a community-led bid supported by the council.”

WCCT’s trustees include its chair – former Moneypenny CEO Joanna Knight, its vice-chair – Chief Executive of Welsh Archaeology Trust Heneb Richard Nicholls and a host of cultural and community leaders including Wrexham AFC disability Liaison officer Kerry Evans, football club CEO Michael Williamson and actor and filmmaker Dean Fagan.

“We have a board of trustees and 21 additional advisers,” said Cllr Jones. “We are exceptionally fortunate to have trustees of high standing not only in Wrexham but in Wales which emphasises the fact we are leading for Wales.

“We want to be the first ever Welsh UK City of Culture.”

When Bradford beat Wrexham to the title in 2025, it used the investment received from Government to generate £1 billion of investment into the city.

“There will be a £10 million award to the successful city this time,” said Cllr Jones. “The DCMS website talks about the award in Bradford, the city of culture for 2025, stimulating investment of £1 billion.

“We’ve already demonstrated our ability to host national and international events including the National Eisteddfod 2025. It has been generally accepted across the whole of Wales, even in South Wales, that it is probably the best Eisteddfod that has ever been held.

“In the last week we’ve held the women’s tennis tournament which attracted a significant amount of income for Wrexham, investment in Wrexham and it was supported greatly by the business community.

“Our themes of sport and culture, heritage and play and our focus on younger people have been evidenced through events like these.”

Cultural strategy

A critical aspect of the new bid will be the Trust’s 10-year cultural strategy. It is a piece of work that is currently underway and it will be a key consideration for those who decide where to award the City of Culture.

“It’s important that the bid itself has a legacy, that it generates benefit for arts, culture and heritage in communities across the whole county borough,”said Cllr Jones.

“It’s not just about winning the bid, it’s about adding value across the whole county borough.

“We’re in it to win it. This time we are in a much better place, a much stronger place.”

Rhosnesni Cllr Andy Gallanders asked how the bid would bring the public on board – having been concerned at limited promotion of the bid to date.

“In the report it does state what do you foresee the biggest challenge of improving our cultural infrastructure is? I went to the Wrexham Comedy Festival the other month and I only knew that Wrexham 2029 was involved because there was a logo on the stage.

“How do we get Joe Public to understand what Wrexham 2029 is? I think that’s going to be a real big challenge. How do we let people know we’re doing this amazing thing when they may not even know what it is?”

Branding

Cllr Jones said that prior to the DCMS announcement they had been cautious in their approach.

“In terms of the branding prior to the announcement, we were very conscious that DCMS had not formally announced 2029. We weren’t going to spend a lot of money on logos for 2029 if DCMS moved it to 2030, which they might have done.

“From now on city of culture is here and we are letting organisations and groups know they can benefit from it.”

Amanda Davies, Culture Bid Director, added: “We are now putting together information on what Wrexham 2029 means for you as a resident, as a business, as a community group, as a tourist. That is vital to ensure this campaign has grassroots support.

“We have a huge cultural scene within Wrexham but quite often people will say ‘I didn’t know about that, I would have gone to it’ or highlight that the same people know about the same events and that knowledge isn’t widespread.

“The cultural strategy we are working on will coordinate cultural infrastructure within Wrexham.”

Finances

Councillors also questioned the finances, noting that Bradford had spent £2 million on its bid alone last time out and that Wrexham was working with a smaller financial pot.

“We have a budget and we are confident we can bring our bid in within that budget,” said Amanda. “We don’t need to go and spend £2 million on the bid.”

It was noted however that the new charitable status of WCCT opened up opportunities to access external cultural funding that was not available to the council in 2025.

Trust vice chair Richard Nicholls said: “When the announcement was made by the DCMS the speed and efficiency with which the Trust was able to respond to that announcement gave us a head start on others.

“We have to make sure that in the process of all the hard work going on we concentrate on legacy and the impact for every citizen in the local community to ensure they a have a chance to be included and have a voice.

“Engagement has already started to make sure local voices are included in our work to develop the bid.”