So a town has been shortlisted to be UK City of Culture 2029, breaking the mould and (you would think) redefining the title… but unfortunately it isn’t Middlesbrough.
Few would begrudge Blackpool a break – a contender now alongside Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Wrexham – but it would have been good for Middlesbrough too.
A North East town that has had more than its fair share of crushing headlines has good things going for it that don’t always make the news.
In that sense Middlesbrough as UK City of Culture would have been good for the country, too.
Not that the town has lacked positive coverage recently, what with the football club riding high in the Championship in its 150th anniversary year, the Turner Prize being hosted at MIMA and TV comedy Smoggie Queens a live contender to be loudest, proudest thing ever on the BBC.
There was even a first BBC Proms concert in Middlesbrough Town Hall this summer.
But in time-honoured fashion, since the North East has been here before (County Durham missing out in 2025 and NewcastleGateshead likewise for the European equivalent in 2008), the response from Teesside has been upbeat.
Middlesbrough instead is planning an ambitious programme of events to mark its bicentenary under the heading Boro 2030, building on its UK City of Culture bid.
The Mayor, Chris Cooke, said working on the culture bid had galvanised people across the city and laid foundations for the next chapter.
“We’re disappointed not to have made the final four but we’re proud that the bid process has brought people together around a shared ambition for Middlesbrough,” he said.
“It has shown what we can achieve when we believe in ourselves.
“We’ve taken knockbacks before and we’ve always come back stronger. That’s just part of who we are.
“What we won’t do is sit around waiting for someone else to give us an opportunity. Instead, we’re going to make things happen ourselves.
“Boro 2030 will be about taking the brilliant ideas from our bid and turning them into something truly memorable for our 200th birthday.
“We’re rolling up our sleeves to go again.
“We’ll celebrate our history, show off the talent that is going to help us thrive in the future and give our people another reason to feel proud of Middlesbrough.”
Bill Scott, chair of the Boro Culture Business Board, said watching Middlesbrough’s City of Culture bid being developed had been genuinely exciting.
“It has been inspiring to see the town’s cultural sector and business community come together over a common cause to promote the brilliant work being done right now and our transformative plans for the future.
“Building on that positivity will help us properly celebrate Middlesbrough’s landmark bicentenary.”
Those celebrations will trace the development of Middlesbrough from an 1830 hamlet of 25 people, who would have been utterly mystified by the Smoggies tag, to the industrial powerhouse it became.
Culture is a beacon of hope for the future.
As well as the other things mentioned, the town has recently had another bustling Middlesbrough Art Week, its inaugural Storytelling Festival and the vibrant Middlesbrough Mela.
Meanwhile the statement opening of The Auxiliary Project Space, after £1.6 million of capital investment, enables the artist-led facility, one of Arts Council England’s regularly funded National Portfolio organisations, to go from strength to strength.
And there are plans for a new theatre which, it is envisaged, will have the capacity to bring national touring productions, including West End shows, to the town.
Middlesbrough Council has vowed to continue working with the town’s cultural sector to deliver Boro 2030, including events leading up to it and some marking 300 years since the birth (in 1728) of Captain James Cook, one of the town’s most famous sons.
Boro 2030 will also support the ambitions set out in the council’s recently adopted Middlesbrough Investment Prospectus, which includes bold plans to regenerate the town centre and think about how to help Middlesbrough’s young people thrive.
The laudable aim is to make Middlesbrough “the most creative place for young people to live, learn and realise their future”.
That’s Middlesbrough then… out but never down.