![\"Filton](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1_Filton-Google-Earth.jpg\")
<\/p>\n“It\u2019s a fantastic town with a proud history, strong communities and huge potential”<\/p>\n
Filton in South Gloucestershire(Image: Google Earth)<\/p>\n
Bristol may have not even made the shortlist<\/a> to be the next UK City of Culture, but a number of towns in the West of England have thrown their hat into the ring to be the official Town of Culture too.<\/p>\n The Somerset towns of Watchet, Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon have all announced they have entered the national competition, which will see a \u2018Town of Culture\u2019 created for the first time in 2028.<\/p>\n And Filton<\/a> has also entered, and has already been backed for the title by local MP Claire Hazelgrove.<\/p>\n The Labour<\/a> MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke has written to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to support Filton\u2019s bid, which it said would \u2018particularly strong and distinctive\u2019.<\/p>\n Unlike other towns around the country with a strong music, arts or literary scenes, Filton is leaning into its strengths as a place known for the aerospace industry, and for being a town with a university.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Bristol snubbed for City of Culture and \u00a310m prize<\/a>READ MORE: Bristol does worse than Swindon in City of Culture bid<\/a><\/p>\n Filton\u2019s bid to be the Town of Culture in 2028 has a three-word slogan – \u2018Life, Lift, Learning\u2019 – and if selected, the town council want to focus on bringing its residents into the decision-making around the year in the spotlight, with citizen panels, community ambassadors and \u2018participatory governance\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cSince being elected, I\u2019ve been keen to highlight all that makes our community so special,\u201d said Claire Hazelgrove MP. \u201cThe Town of Culture competition is an excellent way to do that, which is why earlier this year I wrote to all town councils across the constituency to encourage them to consider submitting a bid.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m delighted to see Filton putting itself forward. Filton has an extraordinary story to tell \u2013 rooted in innovation, industry and ambition, from its rural origins to its globally significant contributions to aviation, aerospace and manufacturing, including Concorde, and more.<\/p>\n Claire Hazelgrove, Labour MP for Filton & Bradley Stoke(Image: Claire Hazelgrove\/Labour)<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic town with a proud history, strong communities and huge potential.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve already written to the Government\u2019s Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, to make the case for Filton, following the official launch of Filton Town Council\u2019s bid.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to seeing the bid develop and will be supporting Filton Town Council and the wider community every step of the way.\u201dFilton\u2019s proposal centres on the theme Life \u2022 Lift \u2022 Learning \u2013 a three\u2010part celebration of the town\u2019s character and achievements,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Train station at Bristol new town Brabazon officially named<\/a>READ MORE: Ex-Bristol MP Jack Lopresti joins Ukrainian special forces<\/a><\/p>\n The Government will select one small, one medium and one large town as finalists later this year, and one town will be named UK Town of Culture 2028 and receive \u00a33 million to deliver its programme during that year, while the remaining two finalists will each receive \u00a3250,000 to develop key elements of their proposals.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Filton Town Council said: \u201cThe council is very keen that this will be a community led initiative, designed by residents, organisations, and businesses across the town. The bid will highlight the stories of working people and their dedication and skills.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will be seeking to engage with young people, especially those in apprenticeships and further education,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“It\u2019s a fantastic town with a proud history, strong communities and huge potential” Filton in South Gloucestershire(Image: Google…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":880853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8818],"tags":[15721,381,748,955,2266,393,10300,4884,528,285,10299,10302,16,15,11158],"class_list":["post-880852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bristol","tag-bradley-stoke","tag-bristol","tag-britain","tag-clevedon","tag-education","tag-england","tag-filton","tag-great-britain","tag-labour-party","tag-politics","tag-south-gloucestershire","tag-south-gloucestershire-council","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-weston-super-mare"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116370849244853843","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_Claire-Hazelgrove-Labour-Candidate-General-Election-2024-Filton-Bradley-Stoke.jpg\")
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