Contest to claim the 2015 title in the Czech Republic has commenced

In early February, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic officially commenced the prestigious contest to claim the European Capital of Culture title in 2015. Select Czech city will share it with its Belgium counterpart. The ECC notion is not new in the Czech Republic. Prague boasted the title in 2000. According to the report of the Czech Ministry of Culture provided to our Interface News, four cities have expressed an interest to run so far – České Budějovice, Plzeň, Ostrava and Hradec Králové.

Plzeň wants to outgrow its beer reputation

We have reviewed the web sites of the potential candidates for the title, and we have found out Plzeň has taken the information and communication campaign probably the furthest. We were greeted by the candidacy logo when we entered the site. In candidacy manager, Petr Šimon’s opinion, Plzeň, or Pilsen, mostly evokes associations linked to beer in Europe and around the world. “We are proud of the fact, of course, but our goal is to take Plzeň beyond parallels drawn with the renowned beer. Plzeň in the European context aims to become a work of art with rich internal structure involving much more than “the beer culture”. For this reason, Plzeň does not take its candidacy lightly, and builds on the previous intensive year-and-a-half preparation. Vision’s authors are convinced that making rich cultural tradition and candidacy vision meet, Plzeň shall become an attractive, open, affable, and pulsating city.

Other cities are still deciding

Ostrava runs as another contestant along Plzeň’s flank. Hradec Králové and České Budějovice are still pondering. The winning Slovak team Košice 2013 has been following the Czech contest diligently. “We met with the Ostrava team several times last year and informed it about latest developments in the contest, in our project and about drawbacks of the candidacy and the individual rounds of the contest,” noted Alena Vachnová, manager of Košice 2013, n.o.
“It is true Hradec Králové is considering the candidacy, but the city council has not made the final decision yet,” said Aleš Mokren, head of culture, sport and tourism section at the Hradec Králové’s City Council. Mayor of České Budejovice, Juraj Thoma, was present at the oficial commencement of the ECC contest which took place on February 10th in Prague. He said he listened to the opportunities the project posed with interest. “České Budejovice is not considering taking active part in the contest at the moment. We prefer projects of a long-term and sustainable effect as opposed to a surge and short-term one. I am however certain the European Capital of Culture project is an excellent marketing chance to bring the city to the spotlight and attract potential visitors. Because our partner city Linz is the European Capital of Culture 2009, we have a good opportunity to determine what specific advantages the project offers, what preparations it demands, and what it involves all in all. Then we can decide whether we want to enter the contest or not,” said Mr Thoma.

Candidacy application to the Czech ECC 2015 in conjunction with the presentation of the project’s primary features must be submitted by the end of October 2009. After the deadline, a two-round national contest shall take place. The winner shall be decided by a selection board. In late summer2010, the Council of Ministers shall be officially nominated the Czech winner and its Belgium counterpart European Capitals of Culture 2015. More information about contest development and candidacy conditions is available at

http://www.mkcr.cz/evropska-unie/evropske-hlavni-mesto-kultury/default.htm

zuzana.lehotska@kosice2013.sk