Leigh-on-Sea has thrown its hat into the ring to become the UK’s first Town of Culture in 2028. Leigh-on-Sea Town Council submitted the bid, joining nearly 400 other hopeful communities across the country in a competition backed by a £3 million prize for the winner.
The government confirmed it received 398 bids representing more than 400 towns. The eventual winner will be crowned UK Town of Culture 2028 and receive the multimillion-pound award to deliver a year-long cultural programme. Two runners-up will each get £250,000 to realise elements of their proposals. The town council has published a digital postcard to showcase Leigh-on-Sea’s character as part of its entry, with the shortlist due in the coming weeks and a final decision expected in early 2027.
The competition, launched by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in January 2026, builds on the UK City of Culture model that has delivered transformative benefits to places like Derry-Londonderry, Hull, Coventry, and most recently Bradford. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said towns have been “For far too long, towns across the UK have felt left out of our national story,” and the initiative aims to restore pride in communities. Leigh Library, managed by Southend-on-Sea City Council, features prominently in the council’s community imagery and sits at the heart of the bid as a key local asset. The library on Broadway West is currently operating with its first floor closed for essential repairs but remains open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm.
The digital postcards from all bidding towns were displayed at the Museum of Liverpool on 2 July as part of a national celebration. Leigh-on-Sea Town Council, formed in 1996 as a non-political first tier of local government, has long championed the town’s wellbeing through decisions made without party political lines. The competition’s chair, Sir Phil Redmond, stressed that creativity exists “in everything we do together,” not just in major urban venues.
If successful, Leigh-on-Sea would follow in the footsteps of towns and cities that have used cultural investment to boost tourism, footfall, and economic growth. Bradford’s 2025 tenure as UK City of Culture projected £389 million in growth and a 25 per cent rise in city centre visits, figures that offer a glimpse of what a Town of Culture win could mean for a community.
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