Tag: Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport

The excitement builds: Colour A Corgi among plans for Jubilee celebrations

  • More than 70,000 ‘Big Lunches’ and events planned across the country
  • Activities for children released including Colour a Corgi

Big screens will be set up outdoors in London, Edinburgh and Cardiff so thousands of people can come together to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next month.

Screens broadcasting the events will be placed in The Mall in London, Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens and in Cardiff’s Bute Park.

From street parties and ‘Big Jubilee Lunches’ happening across the UK, to London’s Trooping the Colour, Service of Thanksgiving, concert and pageant, the nation and commonwealth will come together over four days to mark The Queen’s 70-year reign.

The screens are organised by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) which today is launching an activity pack for children to help them learn about The Queen’s reign, including articles about how the country has changed in the last seven decades, opportunities to colour in a corgi or crown and bunting to decorate for street parties.

More than 70,000 Big Jubilee Lunches are planned in the four UK nations over the weekend, with an expected ten million people set to sit down with their neighbours on Sunday 5 June, to celebrate Her Majesty’s momentous jubilee.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: “In less than a month we will come together as a nation and Commonwealth to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s 70-year reign. No other British monarch has reached this milestone and we will celebrate it with tradition, pomp and circumstance.

“I hope that people and communities across the country will come together to pay tribute to Her Majesty – whether that be to watch on big screens or toasting Her Majesty at a Big Jubilee Lunch with their neighbours or coming together in their local village hall.

In London, screens broadcasting the BBC’s live feed will be placed down The Mall and in St James’s Park for members of the public to watch the events taking place across the Bank Holiday weekend.

In Edinburgh, screens will be placed in Princes Street Gardens with thousands able to host picnics and watch the celebrations with a backdrop of Edinburgh Castle and entertainment provided by the Royal Marines and local performers.

The Welsh Capital is also inviting families to bring their Jubilee Picnic and enjoy an afternoon in Bute Park. The beautiful Grade I listed park in the heart of Cardiff’s city centre will provide the perfect venue for an afternoon of Jubilee celebrations as families are invited to enjoy the Jubilee Pageant on a large screen along with entertainment from the bandstand.

In Northern Ireland, a design competition will see primary school children create a ‘snapshot of Northern Ireland’, with the winning entry to be manufactured into a rug by leading company Ulster Carpets and sent to Her Majesty the Queen.

In addition, The Queen and other members of the Royal Family will receive Northern Ireland Platinum Jubilee Hampers showcasing over 50 top quality local food and drink producers, and representing the appreciation of the people of Northern Ireland for Her Majesty’s dedicated service.

Events taking place in London will be broadcast on TV networks BBC, Sky and ITV. In a further move to mark the occasion, the BBC is offering local communities a special one-off TV Licence dispensation so they can screen it on a big screen they organise themselves.

The plans will allow those celebrating with events arranged in town halls, community centres and streets to show live programmes throughout the weekend without needing to purchase a licence.

UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart said: “Watching the celebrations on the big screens the UK Government is setting up around the country is a great way for people to really get involved and soak up the atmosphere of this fabulous occasion.

“We’re looking forward to a great family-focused event in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh where people can bring a picnic, enjoy the weekend’s festivities and raise a glass to Her Majesty to mark her 70-year reign.”

BBC Director-General Tim Davie says: “I am delighted we are helping to bring people together to celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and I’m looking forward to seeing our coverage on big screens up and down the UK, as we mark this wonderful occasion.“

Can hardly wait … !

Record number bid to become UK’s next City of Culture

  • Bids received from every nation in the UK as regions and groups of towns were encouraged to apply
  • The new winner will be announced next year and will be at the centre of the UK’s cultural spotlight in 2025

A record 20 places from across the UK have submitted an expression of interest to become the UK City of Culture 2025 – an all time high of entries for this prestigious competition.

Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway (part of a joint Borderlands coalition bid), Tay Cities (Dundee and Perth) and the city of Stirling fly the flag for Scotland.

The competition, delivered by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in collaboration with the devolved administrations, uses culture as a catalyst for levelling up areas outside London and putting new parts of the UK on the cultural map internationally.

Entrants have been tasked with proving that they can put culture at the heart of their plans to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Regions and groups of towns have been encouraged to apply in this competition, with a number stepping forward from across the UK.

Bidding for the title in its own right has been shown to have a hugely positive impact on a place, for example previous longlisted bids have used the bidding process to bring together lasting local, national and international partners, share a vision for their area and attract investment.

To ensure as many places as possible across the country can take up this opportunity, DCMS are awarding grants of £40,000 to successful longlisted places for the first time to support their long applications.

The winner, which will be announced next year, will take on the baton from Coventry as the 2021 UK City of Culture and be at the centre of the UK’s cultural spotlight in 2025.

The benefits to the winner of the title are huge, attracting millions of visitors and investment and bringing communities together to showcase the place where they live to the country and the world.

Throughout the history of this competition the winning cities have always benefited from financial support to ensure the programme’s success and lasting legacy. Coventry has received over £15.5 million from the Government to directly support its year as UK City of Culture.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “This record number of applications from all four corners of the country is testament to the huge success of City of Culture in generating investment, creating jobs and boosting local pride.

“This prestigious prize creates a fantastic opportunity for towns and cities to build back better from the pandemic and I wish all bidders the very best of luck.”

Sir Phil Redmond, Chair of the City of Culture Expert Advisory Panel, said: “From Derry-Londonderry to Hull and Coventry it has been a difficult and rewarding challenge to select the next UK City of Culture, and the list of potential candidates for 2025 indicates that life in the immediate future is going to be even more challenging!

“The three previous title holders have demonstrated the transformative and catalytic effect culture can bring about, even within places that have been ultimately unsuccessful but have gone on to develop collaborative and sustainable partnerships.

“The list for 2025 also demonstrates the breadth of ambition, aspiration and innovation that exists from coast to coast and nation to nation across the UK and I am looking forward to that challenge of immersing myself once again in the UK’s rich seam of creativity.”

Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 is providing a blueprint for how culture can be at the heart of social and economic recovery.

The city has already attracted over £100 million so far in capital investment to support cultural projects, such as Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry Cathedral and Belgrade Theatre, among many others.

City of Culture status also had a huge impact on Hull and Derry-Londonderry.

Hull saw more than 5.3 million visits to over 2,800 events, cultural activities, installations and exhibitions.

75% of those who visited Hull in 2017 stated that it changed their perception of the city for the better and 9 out of 10 people in Hull thought that UK City of Culture had a positive impact on the city and more than nine-in-ten residents took part in at least one cultural activity.

The twenty bidders will be reduced to an initial long list of bidders in the coming weeks and then cut down further to a final shortlist in early 2022. The winner will be announced in May 2022.

Full list of bidders:

  • Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon
  • The City of Bangor and Northwest Wales
  • The Borderlands region, comprising Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders, Northumberland, Cumbria and Carlisle City
  • Bradford
  • Conwy County
  • Cornwall
  • Derby
  • County Durham
  • Lancashire
  • Medway
  • City of Newport
  • Powys
  • Southampton
  • Stirling
  • The Tay Cities region
  • Torbay and Exeter
  • Wakefield District
  • City of Wolverhampton
  • Wrexham County Borough
  • Great Yarmouth & East Suffolk