In the first of a three-part series, Courier reporter Graeme Ogston visits one of Dundee’s City of Culture rivals, Swansea Bay.
Swansea Bay was not always a natural choice as a City of Culture 2017 contender, according to the South Wales Evening Post’s Jason Evans.
“Swansea has lots of ideas but a lot of them tend not to materialise,” he said. “So I think when we got round to putting in a bid it might have been a surprise to some folk.
“People here are delighted though. The 11 original candidates were all pretty good, so we’re proud and quite chuffed to make it to the final four.”
Swansea Bay takes in the Mumbles, East Carmarthenshire and the city of Swansea itself, a 30-mile stretch of coastline.
Spread over three local authorities, it would be similar to Dundee, Monifieth and St Andrews teaming up for a joint bid.
Jason said: “There were three councils working together, so it wasn’t a particularly straightforward bid.Day 2 of Graeme’s tour visits Leicester. See what he discovers in Friday’s Courier“But it’s not an artificial construct there is definitely a ‘Swansea Bay feeling’.
“It is three fairly small areas coming together, with a bit of a shared feeling.
“The councils are trying to promote that feeling of shared identity so it definitely made sense to go for a joint bid.”
He added: “Although it is three different authorities there is still a strong identity in this corner of Wales and there is already great co-operation across borders with the police and emergency services as it is.”
Jason said the area was keen to give a nod to its historical cultural heavyweights along with its more contemporary attractions.
He said: “From the Port Talbot area there is Anthony Hopkins, Richard Burton and Michael Sheen and Swansea is Dylan Thomas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. So in that sense it is quite a high-profile area culturally.”
Swansea Bay has been the bookmakers’ favourite since the start of the competition and remains the front runner.
Jason said: “I was surprised to see we were favourite and quite a strong favourite too. But, everyone is keen to do their bit to get the title.
“There is a strong community aspect to it and even if we don’t win, that coming together is a bonus that could come from the process.”