It will be the fifth French city to benefit from this coveted title. Bourges will become European Capital of Culture in 2028, Rossella Tarantino, president of the jury in charge of deciding between the four French cities in the running, including Rouen, Montpellier and Clermont-Ferrand, announced on Wednesday, which saw their hopes disappointed.
It is a "huge honour", reacted the PS mayor of Bourges, Yann Galut, who was present at the Ministry of Culture for this announcement greeted with shouts of joy.
🎉 Our warmest congratulations to Bourges 🇫🇷, designated today as European 🇪🇺 Capital of Culture 2028! 👏👏👏
🏆 Bourges will become the fifth French city to win the prize since the creation of the Prize in 1985!#EuropeforCulture pic.twitter.com/oCBIxWaPDp
— European 🇪🇺 Commission (@UEFrance) December 13, 2023
"In this candidacy, we were in a way the little thumb in front of metropolises, we tried to propose another vision and another way to live our European Capital of Culture," he said, putting forward a "candidacy of sobriety".
As every year, the chosen French city will share this title, which holds out hope for significant economic and tourist benefits, with other localities: Ceské Budejovice in the Czech Republic and Skopje in North Macedonia have already been nominated for 2028.
"Choosing Bourges means supporting the challenge of a medium-sized city [64,000 inhabitants, editor's note] that relies on culture for its human, social and economic development and that aims to make a real place for all audiences," said the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak.
The example of Marseilles
Bourges had campaigned by presenting itself as the standard-bearer of the medium-sized towns. His project aims to use culture as a lever for social, economic, ecological and tourist acceleration, in a city already marked by the success of its Printemps, a major festival of contemporary music.
Launched in 1985 at the instigation of France and Greece, the European Capital of Culture scheme aims to stimulate cultural tourism, with the organisation of exhibitions, festivals and even the construction of museums. Bourges followed in Paris in 1989, Avignon in 2000, Lille in 2004 and Marseille in 2013.
A designation as European Capital of Culture often implies high expectations, both in terms of attendance and longer-term attractiveness, and a high budget.
In 2013, Marseille welcomed 11 million visitors, with a total budget of more than one billion euros and an estimated impact of 500 million euros. The construction of the Mucem, which attracts one million visitors each year, was completed on the occasion of the event.
With AFP
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