Bourges will become European Capital of Culture in 2028. The announcement was made this Wednesday, December 13 by Rossella Tarantino, the president of the jury. It is a “huge honor”, reacted the PS mayor of Bourges, Yann Galut, present at the Ministry of Culture for the verdict. The prefecture of the Cher department was preferred to Rouen, Montpellier and Clermont-Ferrand, the other French cities in the running.
“In this candidacy, we were in some ways the little thumb facing the metropolises, we tried to offer another vision and another way of experiencing our European capital of culture,” he declared, highlighting a “candidate for sobriety”. As every year, the chosen French city will share this title, which raises hopes of significant economic and tourist benefits, with other localities: České Budějovice in the Czech Republic and Skopje in North Macedonia have already been named for 2028.
Stimulate cultural tourism
“Choosing Bourges means supporting the challenge of a medium-sized city (64,000 inhabitants, editor’s note) which focuses on culture for its human, social and economic development and which aims to make a real place for all audiences” , underlined the Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak. Bourges had campaigned by presenting itself as the standard bearer of medium-sized towns. His project wants 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 contemporary music festival.
Launched in 1985 under the leadership of France and Greece, the European Capital of Culture system aims to stimulate cultural tourism, with the organization of exhibitions, festivals, and even the construction of museums. Bourges will succeed Paris in 1989, Avignon in 2000, Lille in 2004 and Marseille in 2013. A designation as European Capital of Culture often implies significant expectations, both in terms of attendance and longer-term attractiveness, and a high budget.
In 2013, Marseille welcomed 11 million visitors, for a total budget of more than a billion euros and benefits estimated at 500 million euros. The construction of the Mucem, which attracts 1 million visitors each year, was completed during the event.