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Capitals of Culture in 2026 around the world: innovations and expansion

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Welcome to my tenth annual preview of Capitals of Culture around the world. This year brings the usual fascinating variety, some innovations as well as some new (and newly discovered) titles.

To start with a reminder. Not all “Capitals of Culture” are the same. That sounds obvious but I am amazed at how many articles/reports/tweets assume some sort of similarity. Most recently in a mostly interesting OECD report on “The role of culture-led regeneration in place transformation the authors equated wildly different CoCs. Let´s look at some 2025 and 2026 budgets, as an indicator of size of programme, complexity and probable objectives. The European and UK titles lead the way (Oulu €50m, Trenčín €33m, Chemnitz and Bradford both at €58m down to Nova Gorica at €25m). I have the impression some of the Cultural Cities of East Asia may also be in this top category. Most national CoCs come in between €4m to €8m (Serbia, Italy, Portugal for example), The next category is around €500k to €1m. The final category is those where the owning authority bestows the title but no funding, often a protocol award or based on a city´s heritage and current cultural offer. A wide range indeed which reflects the size and scope of the title and what can be expected from them.

This year I´ll start with one of the smallest. Hancock is a small town of 4,500 in Michigan USA. Now that´s rare as the Capitals of Culture idea has not taken off in the USA. (Some years back the privately run American title was awarded to two cities but both pulled out when they realised the financial arrangements). Hancock is the 2026 Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture, the first time the title has left Europe. The town is known for its Finnish connections since the 19th century. “It’s about deepening our understanding of our roots, building connections that benefit our community, and inspiring a renewed commitment to Finnish-American culture here in Hancock and beyond.”

Let´s move on to the European Capitals of Culture. Oulu starts on 16 January: ” Early 2026 is at its best in the brave hinterland, in the heart of the exotic northern winter.
We invite you to a unique opening ceremony, to experience Sámi culture in the opera and dance on the the ice of the Bothnian Bay to the beat of electronic music“.

Trenčín opens on 13-15 February. A novel project is the appointment of Stefanie Bose as the chronicler of the ECOC. She will focus on  “exploring the German-Jewish-Slovak-Hungarian history of the city , creating literary bridges between Slovakia and Germany, and also trying to convey the stories of Trenčín to a German-speaking audience”

Italy, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Lithuania and Belarus continue with their national titles. Slovakia and France have paused their titles in deference to Trenčín and Bourges 2028 as ECOCs.

L’Aquila assumes the Italian title for 2026. Agrigento, the 2025 title holder, had a rocky year. All 44 projects were completed but “Delays, accusations, and controversies—often heated, just as often exploitative—have overshadowed and undermined any results achieved.”.  L’Aquila forecasts a €7m budget promising a dynamic programme. The city, and region, has made great steps since the devastating earthquake of 2009.

Bielsko-Biała is the first Polish Capital of Culture, the first of the three unsuccessful shortlisted candidates for the ECOC in 2029 (awarded to Lublin). The grant from the Culture Ministry is around €250,000, with funding from the Norwegian EEA funds. The website shows a relatively small programme.

Portugal is also rewarding the unsuccessful shortlisted candidates for the ECOC, awarded to Évora for 2027. The Portuguese Capital of Culture in 2026 is Ponta Delgarda in the Azores. A healthy budget of €5.3m will give a boost to its cultural programme:  we want to make Ponta Delgada a stage of excellence for culturally relevant artists to enrich the community by bringing their work.

Lithuania was the first country, in 2009, to create a national title in the wake of hosting an ECOC. The 2026 title holder is Kėdainiai. The Culture Ministry allocates up to €150,000 to the programme (although previous Lithuanian CoCs have significantly increased their grant).The history of the city, intertwined with different confessions, has determined the identity of a multicultural city and a unique cultural identity. Therefore, strong religious, cultural, objects and events created by different nations distinguish the Kėdainiai region from other regions of Lithuania. It also has a cucumber festival. Once again Lithuania supports smaller cities with its Small Capitals of Culture. This year sees Kurkliai, Semeliškės, Agluonės, Skriaudžiai and Tirkšliai awarded the title in a competition with 11 candidates. The winners represent each ethnographic region. The deputy culture minister: This is a great example of how community initiative and partnership can create lasting value.

Leskovac is the Serbian Capital of Culture after winning a competition over three other candidates. Over 300 events are planned, to coincide with major cultural infrastructure projects over a two year period. The programme has a budget in the region of €4.5m. Five cities vied for the Belarus Capital of Culture: ” The goal of the campaign is to popularize the achievements of national culture, present the originality of cities and regions, and their tourist attractiveness. The “national” is doing the heavy lifting in this repressive authoritarian country. The status of the cultural capital is given to the one who was able to prove that he has the greatest potential for further development in the field of culture.  Five cities prepared bids, illustrated report here. Postavy the winner. No information available on their programme.

As usual, I find I have overlooked a title which has been running for several years. This year it is Norway where the Norwegian Cultural Forum has run the “Norway´s Cultural Municipality” competition every two years since 1992. The title holder holds the title for two years so the 2025 winner Kristiansund keeps the title in 2026.

Regional titles this year include Veneto ( no announcement yet, the 2025 announcement was in March). Valencia (two, Torrevieja for over 5,000 population and Macastre for under 5,000). Both were appointed in September 2025 so are technically 2025 holders but they keep the title until the next selection. The Catalan title has not yet been announced, Salou run their 2025 programme to the end of January. In Poland the closing date for selection for the Masovian Capital of Culture was late November; no news yet.

Matera has not rested on its laurels since the ECOC in 2019. In 2026 it shares the title of Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue with Tetouan in Morocco. Matera has a budget of €9m from regional and city budget and releases the programme in February with a start in March. “we have already identified several joint projects, from archaeology to music. Special attention will also be given to sports and cinema.” The two cities had a formal meeting in December (over a year since their selection) 

Meghri in Armenia hosts the Commonwealth of Independent States title and Andijan in Kazakhstan takes over the Turkic World title in April after Aktau.

Before we leave Europe a note to point out there are three Capitals of Culture in war mongering Russia. Omsk holds the national title; Kuraginsky District has the regional title in Krasnoyarsk and Kazan is one of the Capitals of Islamic Culture.

The Cultural Cities of East Asia for 2026 ran into a political brick wall. The three countries had, as usual, made their selections: Suzhou (China), Andong City (S Korea) and Matsumoto (Japan). All were due to be formally ratified at the annual Trilateral Meeting of Culture Ministers in China in December. The meeting did not take place. China´s Foreign Ministry was blunt: Japanese leaders have openly made extremely erroneous remarks regarding Taiwan, hurt the feelings of the Chinese people, challenged the post-war international order, and damaged the foundation and atmosphere for cooperation among the three countries. As a result, the conditions are not in place to hold a China-Japan-Korea meeting. Will the three cities continue with their programmes, normally due to open in late Spring?

Multi-lateral organisations awarded their titles again. Melaka continues to hold the ASEAN title (a two year award) and the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities (UCCI) awarded Lima as their 2026 Capital of Culture. The 53 member Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) appointed Baghdad and Hebron/Al-Khalil as Capitals of Islamic Culture (as well as Kazan). A strong objective comes from the Hebron mayor: “We have a great responsibility to present what is happening in Hebron to the Islamic world to tell them a clear message that preserving the holy places requires effort from all of us and strong interventions in order to preserve the Palestinian identity in this city.’” No news yet on the Capital of Arab Culture organised by the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO). Puebla is the American Capital of Culture. This title almost needs renaming as the Mexican: seven of the last ten holders have been from Mexico.

Another new title comes to my attention. Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, is the Cultural Capital of Asia. The title is owned by the Asian Mayor´s Forum, created by Tehran in 2008 and now has members from over 40 countries. There does not appear to be a competition. The 2025 decision was based on extensive research and studies conducted by the AMF Secretariat, which highlighted the city’s rich intellectual and cultural heritage.

Egypt appears to have a Capital of Culture designation. The North Sinai region being the 2026 title holder with Arish the main city. The intention seems laudable. The initiative forms part of the Ministry’s wider strategy to expand cultural and artistic activities nationwide. By hosting major events in North Sinai, the plan aims to revitalize the local cultural scene, create opportunities for creative expression, and strengthen connections between national cultural programmes and local communities. For North Sinai in particular: Every place is distinguished by Bedouin heritage crafts, in addition to Bedouin poetry, Samer arts and the special foods of the place, which provides an opportunity for writers to learn about Sinai, its culture, customs and traditions.

I´m not sure if this will be a permanent programme or a once off. Let´s see if there is one in 2027 (and more information on the selection process which I suspect is buried deep in the Culture Ministry).

In the UK, Bradford completed its ambitious 2025 programme and and issued an impressive listing of statistics. A short tv clip with the usual caveats on legacy with an important comment on longevity. The competition for 2029 is now open. An innovation is the new Town of Culture for 2028. “the competition will be targeted at small and medium sized towns, enabling them to tell their unique story and shining a spotlight on the important role that towns play in our national life”. Just three selection criteria (Your story: the town’s distinctive story or narrative; “Culture for everyone” – the town’s inclusive programme design and “Making it happen” – the programme’s deliverability and operational plans). Towns under 70,000 are likely to bid. A grant of £3.5m is available for a summer programme (not a full year). Three runners-up will receive £125,000 each.

I gave AI a run for its money is drafting this preview. I gave up! Most AI reports managed to mangle the various titles and omit most, showing the unreliability of AI. Just today Gemini of Google managed to call Barcelona in 2026 both the European Capital of Culture and the Catalan Capital of Culture in the same response. In fact Barcelona is the UNESCO appointed World Capital of Architecture, celebrates the centenary of the death of Gaudi and the 150th anniversary of the birth of Pablo Casals and to end the year, it is the European Capital of Christmas.

So probably 38 title holders this year. Several titles are in their “off-year”: London (although Wandsworth continues its 2025 programme until March), Eixo Atlântico, UK (both City and Town) and African, as well as the pauses in France and Slovakia. Next year will also finally see the first Swiss Capital of Culture (La Chaux-de-Fonds). If anyone comes across another title, let me know!

39 Capitals of Culture: a flourishing global activity in 2025

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Welcome to my ninth annual survey of Capitals of Culture around the world. We see new titles every year and it is getting harder to discover all of them! Let me know if you know of others! I´ve used more videos in this review as many cities are less well known. A bumper year with 39 cities, towns and villages holding titles. Several are repeating a title year with a different organiser (Sucre and Samarkand both held titles last year). Others have been serial title chasers (especially with Capitals of Sports and Youth).

This year we see three innovations: two cities with a joint candidacy and programme. Bolivia celebrates its bicentenary so the former, Sucre, and current La Paz, capital cities will hold the Ibero-American Capital of Culture. In Africa neighbouring cities, but from different countries, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, will jointly hold the African Capital of Culture. The closest capital cities in the world, separated by a river and history. The third dual title holder is one of the European Capitals of Culture: Nova Gorica in Slovenia along with Gorica in Italy. “Nova” is the clue: a new town built after the division of the city after the Second World War. The wall (a fence) came down in 2007 and since 2011 the area has been administered under a trans border board. A new cross border project and good news for rail travellers. The theme of the ECOC is, not unsurprisingly, GO! A borderless European Capital of Culture.

Chemnitz shares the ECOC title. The bidbook: “Chemnitz is a place where the democratic culture of the last thirty years is visibly under pressure. Many were hurt by the brutality and the speed of change. The pain was overlooked, unseen. Chemnitz not only shares this fate with Eastern European cities, it is also an extreme example of an industrial society in transition.” Learn more in this Deutsche Welle news clip. 2025 marks 40 years since the first ECOC in Athens. Expect meetings and celebrations along with many proposals on what to do with the ECOC when the current programme ends in 2033.

In 2014 Italy pioneered the concept that unsuccessful candidates for the ECOC title could have their efforts rewarded with a national title. The subsequent Italian Capital of Culture has become the most hotly contested CoC title with over 20 medium sized cities bidding each year. In 2025 Agrigento in Sicily holds the title under the slogan: Let yourself be embraced by culture. Its remarkably un-diverse press launch highlighted the opportunities for the whole of Sicily; the programme is launched on 18 January. I wonder if it will go beyond heritage and tourism.

The UK City of Culture programme is unique in being held every four years. Bradford hosts the 2025 edition. Its opening night went well despite the cold! An earlier report sets the scene. Wandsworth is the London Borough of Culture with a strong health theme: Our London Borough of Culture programme will be a trailblazer for London becoming a Creative Health Capital City – a place where better health outcomes are achieved through the power of culture and the arts.

Cēsis, promised in its bid for the 2027 ECOC title that it would implement the cultural programme in the bidbook. The bid was unsuccessful but true to its promise the city will present the programme in 2025 as a Latvian Capital of Culture. A similar approach takes place in Valdichiana, an unsuccessful candidate for the Italian Capital of Culture. It is producing a programme under a Tuscan Capital of Culture label.

Lithuania was the first country to build on an ECOC to create a national Capital of Culture. Druskininkai is the 2025 title holder. The work of 19th century composer and artist, MK Čiurlionis, takes centre stage in the programme. It´s a holiday centre, check out the video! Lithuania also has a Small Cities of Culture programme with, in 2025, successful bids representing each ethnographic region: Žeimelis, Rudaminai, Kudirkos Naumiestis, Dreverna and Švėkšna. The winners of the Small Capitals of Culture selection will pay great attention to activities that will strengthen local cultural identity and partnerships, create new and nurture existing traditions, bring together people of different generations and experiences, make the town’s name and heritage famous, allow for the use of innovative forms, and commemorate community anniversaries. Ambitious.

Two cities in Portugal, less than an hour apart, have titles this year. Braga is the national title holder, awarded to the unsuccessful shortlisted candidates for the ECOC. Viano do Castelo is the Eixo Atlântico Capital of Culture.

The Union for the Mediterranean launches a new concept, a Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue. Tirana and Alexandria are the joint holders in 2025. Tirana’s themes are: The MediTIRANEan Bridges city programme will consist of cultural exploration, strengthening artistic creativity, digitization of cultural heritage, and sustainable cultural tourism. 

Warnings are raised for visitors to Narva in Estonia: mobile phones may be caught by the Russian networks just across the river. Narva is the Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture. The link has an informative review of this title. The river separates Estonia from Russia, certainly not a borderless city.

Zrenjanin takes the Serbian title. It opens in March with the theme “Meanders of the City – Flows of Culture”. A quick tour.

Regional titles come and go. The Valencian title seems to have been a casualty of the new right wing regional government and the effects of the floods in October 2024. The closing date for the fifth Venetian City of Culture was only in mid December; no news yet on the successful candidate. The Polish region of Mazovia has run a title under my radar for at least five years. Zwoleń succeeded in the 2025 competition. Another quick tour. Salou takes the Catalan title. This American video seems straight out of the 1950s/1960s Pathé tourism newsreels! (and Peter Seller´s famous Balham, Gateway to the South).

Time to leave Europe and see what´s happening in the rest of the world. The Culture City of East Asia goes from strength to strength. This year´s four cities are Macao, a mix of Portuguese and Chinese history, and Huzhou in China known as ” five mountains, one water and four parts of farmland” , Anseong, South Korea and Kamakura in Japan, a coastal retreat just one hour from Tokyo. ASEAN have nominated Melaka in Malaysia as their Capital of Culture for the 2024-2026 period. The video gives a good overview.

Kuwait takes the Arab Capital of Culture whilst Samarkand is the Cultural Capital of the Islamic World (a programme with problems of cities dropping out in recent years, now settling down). Aktau in Kazakhstan holds the Cultural Capital of the Turkic World. Fantastic landscape. The city only started in 1958 as an uranium mining location. Since 2007 it has been developed as a tourist city. San Luis Potosi (known as SLP locally) in Mexico is the American title holder, continuing the Mexico-centred holders of the title (let alone Spanish language countries).

I don´t like to promote war mongering Russia so will simply record that Grozny is the Russian Capital of Culture and Bogotol is the Krasnoysk regional capital. Lachin in Azerbaijan is the Commonwealth of Independent States title holder and Ivanovo holds the title in Belarus.

An “ECOC is for life” is a well worn cliché. Avignon, one of the nine ECOCs in 2000 is organising a celebration ” Terre de Culture” . Cork looks back on its 2005 year. Liverpool, Mons and others, have never stopped looking back and forward! Sometimes plans put forward in bidbooks never take place and in some cases they eventually come to fruition. The empty shell of the Kosmos cinema in Plovdiv is a good example. Highlighted in the bidbook in 2014 for the successful 2019 ECOC it looks like, finally, the renovation will take place.

Looking forward to 2026 we will see new Polish and Swiss Capitals of Culture and Italy introduces a Capital of Contemporary Art. In the meantime reduce your carbon emissions, quit Twitter for BlueSky, stop the rise of the far right and boycott genocidal countries. And start thinking on how you would change the ECOC title from 2034. Enjoy.

Capitals of Culture in 2024; A title held by 25 (now 26) cities worldwide

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Welcome to my 8th annual review of Capitals and Cities of Culture around the world. As usual I only include those where the title has been awarded by an external organisation rather than a self promoted marketing slogan.

The main news this year is Russia´s first Capital of Culture. Despite destroying Ukraine´s cultural infrastructure and killing thousands of Ukrainians in its illegal war of aggression Russia attempts to show “business as usual”. The competition was open to cities over 250,000. Selection has a novel twist: an online public vote, followed by a public presentation to an expert panel. The general criteria were: “Experts assessed the preservation of historical and cultural heritage, the level of development of the urban environment, theatres, museums and archives, education and enlightenment, the introduction of innovations and creative industries.” Nineteen cities put in bids leading to a shortlist of eight: Grozny, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Samara, Tomsk, Cheboksary and Chita. Nizhny Novgorod topped the poll with 189,151 votes, 2,000 ahead of Samara. The city is preparing a programme of around 150 events (well worth a read). Unexpectedly, Grozny the Chechen capital, was appointed as the 2025 title holder by the president of the organisers (a member of the Duma and under Western sanctions). It was a very controversial announcement. Several of the other shortlisted cities vented their surprise and anger at this impromptu decision. With the war continuing both Nizhny Novgorod and Grozny are to be boycotted. (No normal activity in an abnormal situation). The long standing regional Capital of Culture in Krasnoyarsk goes to Uzhursky.

The Cultural Cities of East Asia programme gains strength every year. Despite the frequent political differences between the three countries (China, South Korea and Japan) this cultural programme thrives. The 2024 title-holders are Weifang and Dalian in China, Ishikawa in Japan and Gimhae City in South Korea. Weifang is in the UNESCO Creative Cities network for crafts and folk art. Dalian stands out for its 30,000 cherry trees and their blossom. Ishikawa was hit by the earthquake on New Years day. The Korean title holders have formed a network. At their second meeting in September the five previous title holders and Gimhae held a workshop and “shared practical challenges of the current CCEA project and debated on diverse ways to overcome such limitations“.

The Cultural Capital of the Turkic World goes to Änew in Turkmenistan whilst the Commonwealth of Independent States selected Samarkand in Turkmenistan. Änew has important archaeological ruins from the 15th century and an impressive White Wheat Museum whilst Samarkand is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Tripoli in Lebanon hosts the Cultural Capital of the Arab World. The original plan was to hold the title in 2023. It seems a combination of COVID19 and lack of preparations led to a postponement. Marrakesh In Morocco and Shushi in Azerbaijan are the two Cultural Capitals of the Islamic World. Let´s hope they have better luck than Benghazi who had to forgo their programme in 2023 due to the effects of Storm Daniel.

Another UNESCO World Heritage site becomes the Capital of Ibero-American Culture: Sucre in Bolivia. Designated by UCCI and known as the La Cuidad Blanca, reflecting the white painted colonial era houses. The State of Nayarit (Mexico) is the American Capital of Culture continuing the Spanish only nature of this NGO run title.

Time now to look at the 12 Capitals of Culture in Europe.

It is “welcome back” to the Portugal CoC. This lasted for just two editions in 2003 (Coimbra) and 2005 (Faro) before a change of government closed the programme. The restored title follows the example of Italy: the three unsuccessful shortlisted candidates for the European Capital of Culture 2027 are recompensed by holding a national title. In 2024 Aveiro takes the honours followed by Braga and Ponta Delgada before Évora holds the European title.

Pesaro holds the Italy title. A key takeaway from the handover from the 2023 holders, Bergamo/Brescia: In the coming years, at least 200-300 million new tourists are estimated in the world, strongly attracted by the beauty and culture of Italy. The problem is that the ‘historic’ art cities, therefore Rome, Venice, Florence, are already overbooked. For this reason, a network of medium-sized cities is needed, such as Pesaro, Mantua, Parma, Matera and Bergamo and Brescia themselves, to serve the country to increase its competitiveness and attractiveness “. No wonder 26 cities have sent in bids for the 2026 title, now reduced to a shortlist of 10, with decision in March.

The second Serbian title goes to Užice after bids from 12 cities. Kaišiadorys becomes the Lithuanian CoC. There was no Slovakian title holder last year. Humenné beat off competition from Brezno and Šaľa to take the 2024 title.

In the folk-art/traditions group the Finno-Ugric title has not yet been announced. Belarus has selected Belynichi from five candidates.

Regional Capitals of Culture in Spain continue with Sabadell taking the Catalan title and Monóvar (for places over 5,000) and Bicorp (under 5,000) the two Valencian titles. The latter has spectacular cave paintings, (another UNESCO Heritage site)..

And finally: the three European Capitals of Culture: Tartu (Estonia) and Bad Ischl/Salzkammergut (Austria) are joined by Bodø (Norway). The three are probably the smallest trio of ECOCs since the title started in 1985. All three are including rural communities to widen their appeal. The gap between national CoCs and the European title narrows. Bad Ischl is the first “inner Alpine” title holder and Bodø the most northerly. Bodø opens (with memories of Galway) on “On February 3, we’ll gather in a circle around the marina – regardless of the weather – and enjoy a spectacular show before moving inside and continuing the party in town.” All three cities appear in the Guardian´s top ten cultural destinations for 2024.

You may have noticed some missing CoCs. Several titles with 2 to 4 year cycles are in their “off–year” so no UK, Eixo Atlântico, London or Africa title holders. I´ve also dropped the cities which become a CoC on the basis of the location of the summit meeting of an inter-governmental organisation (eg ASEAN and Portuguese Speaking Countries). Has anyone heard if a regional CoC in the Veneto region of Italy exists?

And I missed the French Capital of Culture!!!! It is Pays de Montbéliard Agglomération, a joint venture of 72 communes.

25 and now 26 Cultural Capitals for 2024! Enjoy.