Wrexham’s City of Culture bid centres around community, collaboration, creativity as well as “hwyl”. It aims to connect everyone: schools, businesses, creatives and the public. We have many unique and special things here in Wrexham, our heritage, industry, sport, music, language and food. The bid hopes to bring all of this together.
Wrexham County Borough Council is supporting Wrexham City of Culture Trust to deliver the bid. Funding is from public and private investment with a view to sustainability beyond the bid as part of a 10-year cultural strategy.
Now that Wrexham is on the long list it will received £60,000 from the DCMS to develop their full bid.
The bid has already received funding from the Shared Prosperity Fund (2025–26) and Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns Initiative for example. The latter funded the Public Art trail around the city.
So far, (as evaluating Bradford is still too early) the City of Culture programme has resulted in significant economic benefits to the three cities that have held the title. Derry/Londonderry in 2013, Hull in 2017 and Coventry in 2021. For example, over £1 billion additional investment (of which roughly 25% came from the private sector) in local economies, media value increasing significantly, increased tourism by an average of 22%, as well as a boost to cultural infrastructure and funding. Civic pride and cultural participation have also risen and interestingly, in communities who haven’t benefited from publicly funded culture in the past.
So, securing the title will bring major benefits to Wrexham in terms of investment, jobs, tourism access to the arts and cultural experiences.
