What is the Isle of Culture?
Imagine a year when the whole of Thanet comes alive with culture - when Margate, Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Birchington, Westgate and our villages become a connected island of creativity, celebration and transformation. That's the Isle of Culture.
We submitted an expression of interest for UK City of Culture 2029 but sadlly we weren’t selected for the longlist and won’t be continuing to develop a full bid.
The competition is about using culture and creativity as a catalyst - to improve wellbeing, build civic pride, unite communities, welcome more visitors, and energise our local economy. It was an opportunity to think about what Thanet could become.
Thank you to everyone who gave their time, their ideas, their enthusiasm and their belief that our towns and villages deserve to be celebrated on a national stage.
Our bid was praised by the panel for being creative and artist-led, with a clear vision and a distinct sense of place.
As the only community-led bid in the competition we faced particular challenges. The panel felt we lacked local authority engagement and support and the scale of our ambition didn’t yet match our resources and infrastructure.
Image: Margate Pride is a community-led celebration
What is meant by culture?
Culture is everything that makes a place vibrant and alive.
The Government's definition includes visual arts, literature, music, theatre, dance, architecture, crafts, design, heritage, museums, libraries, film, broadcasting, video games, animation, photography, and publishing - plus our historic and natural environment.
But we think culture is more than that.
Here on the Isle of Thanet, culture means our stunning coastline and outdoor adventures. It's our gardens and green spaces. It's the incredible food, drink and hospitality that brings people together. It's sport and wellness. It's the stories we tell and the connections we make.
Image: Broadstairs Folk Week
How was the decision made?
February 8th 2026: We submitted our initial Expression of Interest informed by over 750 resident responses to our survey, consultation meetings and existing research, and the feedback of our 25 local peer reviewers. You can read more about how the survey shaped the EOI here.
March 18th 2026: Following the deliberations of an expert panel the longlist for City of Culture 2029 is announced. Our bid as Isle of Culture was not included.
Next steps
We will deliver on our commitment to produce a report from our conversations with schools about aspiration and inspiration — work that would have supported our Island Rising theme and that still deserves to be heard.
We will share the findings from the residents survey with councils and councillors across Thanet, and will be posting highlights on Instagram over the coming weeks.
And we will be thinking about how the ideas generated through this process can be taken forward — outside of this competition, and in ways that are sustainable and genuinely rooted in community.
Image: Ramsgate New Years Day Swim
How can I get involved?
Stay connected: Follow us on Instagram for updates, behind-the-scenes content, and next steps.
Questions? Ideas? Contact us at info@isleofculture.org - we want to hear from you.
