The City of Culture competition is held by the government every four years to highlight the arts and heritage, and is hotly contested by councils throughout the country.  

Although a bid for Reading to become a City of Culture was submitted earlier this year, it failed to make the longlist of nine bidders.

The news has had a mixed reaction from people on Facebook, with some wondering why Reading was put forward in the first place. 

Reading fails bid to become UK City of Culture

The places that made it to the longlist were the cities of Inverness, Milton Keynes, Portsmouth, Sheffield and Wrexham, and the towns of Blackpool, Ipswich, Middlesbrough and Swindon.

The government is also running a ‘Town of Culture’ for smaller places, with the winner benefiting from £3.5 million.

Explaining this on Facebook, councillor Paul Gittings (Labour, Coley) said: “Just for information, Reading had to bid in the city section because of our overall size.

“There is also a great deal of cultural activity, and in 2016, Reading did run a highly successful year of culture on a shoestring budget from grants, with the highlight being over 50 thousand visitors to the historic Gaol, where performances related to Oscar Wilde were staged to great acclaim.”

The bid for the City of Culture was put forward by Reading Borough Council.

Reacting to the news, Liz Terry (Labour, Coley), the council leader, said: “Reading is home to well-established cultural venues, festivals of national and regional significance and an extensive, diverse programme of cultural activities throughout the year, which we remain very proud of and which could not be delivered without our town’s incredible community and voluntary sector who make such an enormous contribution to our amazing cultural offer.

“Notwithstanding the decision, I have no doubt Reading will continue to go from strength to strength, and the council, its partners and our community will continue working together to ensure our reputation as a cultural beacon continues to grow in the years to come.”

Examples of the town’s cultural offer include Reading Festival, Water Fest, ‘Are You Listening’, the free-entry museum and The Hexagon.

Thousands gather for 36th year of Water Fest in Reading

The town’s failed bid was noted by the @ReadingClowncil X/Twitter account on Wednesday, March 18. 

Rowena Rowe said: “I think rather than denigrating Reading all the time, if you live there, you should try to do your part to improve it. It has oodles of history given its location and there are so many people all over the world whose roots are here.”

Making a strong case for why the town should have been selected, Gareth Warwick said: “I love Reading’s culture, we have the Abbey ruins, King Henry I was buried there, Forbury Gardens, the Maiwand Lion statue, Jane Austen educated in the Abbey Gateway, the four Bs Huntley & Palmers biscuits, Simonds Brewery, Sutton Seeds bulbs and S &E Collier bricks, a Banksy, the Museum of English Rural Life, South Streets Arts Centre, The Thames & Kennet & Avon Canal, Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James) pilgrim route starts at St James Church & finishes in Spain (the hand of St. James was once held there), and the university.

“There is South Asian and Caribbean culture and now the Hong Kong British Nationals Overseas (BNO), a burgeoning independent food & brewery scene including Perrys, Clay’s Kitchen & Bar, MeKong Blue Collar, award-winning Reading Farmers Market, Double-Barrelled, Loddon Brewery & Dolphin breweries, and the furthest west point on the underground.. it’s a fab town.. the largest in the UK!”

The winning bidder will be selected for a City of Culture programme in 2029.