Capital of Culture status could bring one million visitors
It’s full steam ahead in Galway’s bid to secure the European Capital of Culture designation for 2020 with Friday, October 16, the deadline for the initial ‘bid book’ to be submitted.
Galway’s hopes of winning the designation will be based primarily on a ‘what the people want’ approach and a pledge to bring the event to every town and village across the county.
The campaign – being driven by the Galway City and County Councils – will conclude the first phase of their bid when they submit an 80 page outline of their plans, for consideration by the adjudicators.
Following the completion of this initial ‘bid book’ submission, an interview process will then follow in November before a shortlist of contenders is likely to be drawn up.
As well as Galway, Dublin and Limerick, a ‘three sisters’ application has also been made by the south-eastern population centres of Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford.
A spokesperson for the Galway 2020 Team, told the Galway City Tribune. that they were ‘very happy’ with the positivity and feedback from the public so far on their application bid.
“If we secure this designation, we want all of Galway to be part of this event. We want the cultural pulse of the event to be felt, not just in the city, but in every village and town across the county,” said the spokesperson.
She said that the driving strategy behind the application was a ‘go out and meet the people approach’ and they were delighted with the response so far.
For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune