The information was confirmed by Katarzyna Duma, Spokesperson for the Mayor of the City. The title of European Capital of Culture 2029 is a prestigious distinction for Lublin. Being named the capital of culture means that numerous events will be organised in the city, which will certainly attract visitors from all over the world. This is a great promotional opportunity for the voivodeship’s capital.
Winning the title of European Capital of Culture 2029 is expected to bring benefits not only in the cultural sphere, but also economically and socially. The experience of other cities shows that the granting of the title is a strong stimulus to development. The title means that numerous cultural events will be organised in Lublin throughout the year, attracting tourists from Poland and around the world.
The last two years have been a time of intensive work for all of us and the implementation of many valuable projects and events in the spirit of the RE:UNION idea. Ahead of us lies several years of preparation and work on translating the ideas contained in our application into concrete actions. I would like to thank all the communities involved for working together and contributing to this great success. We have proved once again that Lublin’s culture and the people who create it have great potential,” says Krzysztof Żuk, Mayor of the City of Lublin.
The title of capital of culture is also expected to help win EU funds to rebuild the infrastructure and support pro-social and culture-creating activities. What does this mean for the ordinary citizen? Many cities that have been awarded the title of European Capital of Culture have carried out renovations to streets and pavements in order to best present themselves to visitors. An example is Kaunas in Lithuania (ECOC 2022), where many kilometres of roads and pavements in the city centre have been renovated.
How did Lublin get the title? The competition was held in two stages. All competing cities submitted their initial applications by 15 September 2023. Lublin’s city presentation was 60 pages long. It presented the organisational outline and financial feasibility of the programme. The applications were assessed by international experts, who selected a so-called shortlist. These were the cities qualified for the second stage of the competition. Together with Lublin, Katowice, Bielsko-Biała and Kołobrzeg were realised. The cities then sent the final applications with a full description of their cultural programme to the experts. The experts visited the candidate cities. They arrived in Lublin on 18 September.
Nowadays, the most appreciated programmes are those that show Europe’s richness and cultural diversity, the key civilisational values of the European Union, and proposals that strengthen the sense of community and integration. The leading slogan of our application – RE:UNION, understood as an extraordinary meeting, dialogue, caring for one another and a new look at Lublin, fits into this trend,” informs the Office of the Press Spokesperson of the Mayor of Lublin.
The European Capital of Culture competition was born 40 years ago in Greece. The annual celebration of the ECC in successive European cities serves to strengthen the integration of the European Union and to present the cultural achievements of the individual countries belonging to the community. Each European Capital of Culture prepares an annual programme of events demonstrating the cultural potential of the city, region, country and its international and European contexts. To date, more than 60 cities have been awarded the title. In Poland, it has been awarded twice – in 2000, it was awarded to Krakow (in a non-competitive process), followed by Wrocław, which celebrated the European Capital of Culture in 2016.
source: Lublin City Hall
Also read: Lublin | Culture | Art | City | Featured | whiteMAD on Instagram
