Norwich is bidding to become the UK's first city of culture.
Norwich is bidding to become the UK's first city of culture.
A total of 29 locations are in the running for the accolade, including Norwich's regional rival Ipswich as well as Manchester, Birmingham and the rather more general nominee 'the countryside'.
Television mogul Phil Redmond, who was the architect of Liverpool's year as European City of Culture in 2008, will chair the judging panel for the competition.
Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw announced the list of places which were hoping to take the title, representatives of which were due to attend a seminar in Liverpool today.
Key members of the team behind Liverpool 08 will outline their successes and give potential bidders one-to-one advice.
The locations in the running are: Aberdeen, Barnsley, Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Brighton and Hove, Carlisle, Chester, Chichester, Chorley Council, City of Bath, Cornwall, County Durham, Derby, Derry City, Gloucester and Cheltenham, Hull, Ipswich and Haven Gateway, Leicester City, Manchester, Norwich, Oxford, Pennine Lancashire, Reading, Sheffield, 'The Countryside', Urban South Hampshire and Wakefield.
For the full story on Norwich's bid to become the UK's city of culture, see Friday's Evening News.
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