Town of Culture

In March 2026, following discussions between Redditch Borough Council and partners part of the Cultural Compact for North East Worcestershire, a decision was made to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to become the UK Town of Culture 2028.

Following on from the success of the City of Culture programme which has run since 2009, the Town of Culture will award up to £3 million in funding to the successful town to put on a year long festival of culture. Two further towns will also be recognised with a smaller grant to continue their cultural activities.

If our EOI is successful, Redditch will be long listed and invited to submit a full application – a grant of £60k is awarded to support this process. It is expected we will know whether we have moved to the next stage of applications in May 2026.