Ostrava does not want to be the European Capital of Culture

Ostrava – The city of Ostrava will not seek to regain the title of European Capital of Culture. The city's leadership decided so after consulting with dozens of experts. This was announced to reporters today by Mayor Tomáš Macura (ANO).

In 2010, Ostrava, along with Plzeň, competed for the title of European Capital of Culture for 2015. In a close contest, Ostrava ultimately lost, which was a significant disappointment for the preparation team and several city officials. The Czech city has a chance to once again acquire the title for 2028 together with a selected French city.

"I believe that through the candidacy for the title for 2015, the city actually fulfilled most of its goals in terms of the development and support of cultural life in the city. I think that Ostrava is today a cultural city, and no one doubts that," said Macura.

According to him, the city carefully considered the candidacy for 2028. "We weighed all the pros and cons. It should be noted that we did not make this decision solely within the city leadership, but we reached out to about forty significant personalities from the cultural and social life both within the city and across the Czech Republic," the mayor stated.

He added that the city ultimately came to the same conclusion as most of the consulted experts. "Ostrava does not necessarily need the candidacy or the title. We want to concentrate that energy, time, and ultimately money on completing the projects we have prepared today,” Macura stated. This includes, for example, the construction of a concert hall or the conversion of a former slaughterhouse into a gallery.

The title of European Capital of Culture is awarded by the European Union for one year to one or more European cities, which then have the opportunity to present their cultural life and its development to Europe throughout the year. The holders for the Czech Republic were Prague in 2000 and Plzeň in 2015. According to the mayor, the Czech cities that have officially announced their interest in candidacy include Broumov, while potential candidates also include Brno, Chomutov, and Liberec. This year, the title is held by Rijeka in Croatia and Galway in Ireland.