‘We’ve been knocked down but we’ll get up again’: UNESCO City of Music bid fails

PACKED: Crowds enjoying the entertainment at Humber Street Sesh. Picture by Tom Arran Commercial Photography

By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

Hull has failed in its bid to become a UNESCO Creative City of Music.

The city council submitted its bid at the end of January and revealed today it had been unsuccessful. It is planning to resubmit a bid in 2027.

Councillor Rob Pritchard, portfolio holder for culture and leisure, said: “We are disappointed to just miss out this time, but encouraged by the incredibly positive feedback about our city. We’re working closely with UK UNESCO and we are even more determined to submit an even stronger bid for 2027.

“Second-time bids to UNESCO can be more successful, so we’ll be working very hard, taking on all the responses, to ensure our next bid is something that will blow the board away.

“We’ve reconnected with national and international partners and taken Hull's cultural sector to Westminster and we’ve been named as one of the coolest places to live by The Sunday Times.

“We’re on the up and not to have been shortlisted this time won’t knock us down. Hull has an amazing, proud and strong music sector – as a council, we’ll do everything we can to support everyone involved. I’m determined to make Hull a UNESCO Creative City of Music and won’t stop until we are.”

The council said feedback from the United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO “will drive the delivery of its recently published five-year Music Plan”.

It said the plan is embedded in its Cultural & Heritage Strategy and “puts music front and centre of driving the city’s reputation as one of the world’s most progressive cities in community-led culture. The ambition is to make Hull a global leader and a forward-thinking place to make and experience quality music”.

Mark Page, Sesh Events director, said: “Hull is already a music city. We produce some of the greatest talent in the country and events like Humber Street Sesh show how much it is valued by residents and visitors. I have every faith that the next bid to UNESCO will be a success and will strengthen the international partners we started to develop through this process and put us on the map where we deserve to be.”