This article was first published by the Museums Association.
Museums in Blackpool, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Wrexham will be keeping a keen eye on the UK City of Culture competition now these four places have been shortlisted to become the UK City of Culture 2029.
The winning city will be announced early next year. Each shortlisted place will receive at least £125,000 to take forward their bid, with the winning city banking £10m.
Museums, galleries and heritage sites have played a key part in the programmes created for previous UK cities of culture, which was last held in Bradford in 2025. The previous locations were Coventry in 2021, Hull in 2017 and Derry-Londonderry in 2013.
Bradford District Museums & Galleries hosted a number of exhibitions during Bradford’s year as City of Culture, including the Turner Prize at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery.
Wrexham is home to the recently opened Football Museum of Wales and Wrexham Museum. Tŷ Pawb, which is housed in Wrexham’s former People’s Market, is nearby the new museums.
Blackpool is home to Showtown, a museum that opened in 2024 and is focused on the town’s history as an entertainment town.
Milton Keynes has a museum dedicated to the history of the Buckinghamshire city and also has the MK Gallery, which has just opened an exhibition (until 28 February 2027) about Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887–1976). The show marks the 50th anniversary of the British artist’s death.
Sheffield Museums Trust has six sites – Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet; Graves Gallery; Kelham Island Museum; Millennium Gallery; Shepherd Wheel Workshop; and Weston Park Museum.
