Selected by the jury, Clermont-Ferrand and the Massif Central will be able to continue the adventure with three other French cities to become the European Capital of Culture in 2028. City of Clermont-Ferrand.
The lucky winner will be chosen in December 2023. Until then, the jury will come and judge the projects on site.
After meeting to audition the candidate cities for the title of European Capital of Culture for 2028, a jury made up of 12 European members, including two French, announced their verdict on Friday evening: four cities, Clermont-Ferrand, Rouen, Bourges and Montpellier are pre-selected for this coveted title. In the fall, the jury will travel to the cities concerned, then will audition the candidates a second time, in order to make a final decision in December 2023.
«In 2012, I announced my intention to put us in the race. Whatever happens in the rest of the application process – we still have many steps to go before reaching the top and we must more than ever remain mobilized – I am very proud of this effervescence, we have made our landscapes and its inhabitants, our cultures and rurality, elements sometimes judged with a little contempt but which have been recognized“Judge Olivier Bianchi, mayor of Clermont-Ferrand, who led the application on behalf of his city and the central massif. For this 43e edition, in addition to the four preselected, Amiens, Bastia, Montpellier, Nice, Reims, and Saint-Denis had submitted an application.
Friday, Saint-Denis, who had organized a live broadcast of the announcement at the Villa Dionysos, with the actors of the project and the inhabitants, displayed his disappointment, and Rouen said he was extremely happy. “It has been a huge three-year job, and today we have taken a step forward. The project is based on the Seine, which is the main character of the application, and we would like to open up on the issues of the climate, living together and creation. explains Rebecca Armstrong, general delegate of the Rouen Seine Normande 2028 bid.
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Since its launch in 1985 on the joint initiative of France and Greece, and in particular of Melina Mercouri, then Greek Minister of Culture, the label has already been awarded in France, to the cities of Paris (1989), Avignon ( 1999), Lille (2004) and Marseilles (2013). Each year, two cities in two different states are nominated for a competition launched six years before the capital year. In 2028, in addition to France, the Czech Republic was selected. According to the European Commission, this is “to highlight the diversity of cultural wealth in Europe and the ties that unite us as Europeans“. It is up to the designated city to promote its heritage and its cultural dynamism.