Bourges in the final for the title of European Capital of Culture!

Discover our artistic Bid Book selected by the panel of European experts!

Following the deliberation of the European jury, the Ministry of Culture organized a press conference this Friday March 3, 2023 at 5.30 p.m. to announce the names of the finalist French cities which will continue the competition until the end of 2023. Bourges has been selected for the final sprint!

We have worked very hard to succeed in writing an authentic and original bid book in order to make Bourges a territory of the future. To accompany us in this home stretch, we invite you to discover the essence of our artistic program in this abstract.

To all those who have added their voice to this application, believing, sharing, mobilizing, participating and inspiring, THANK YOU. Our investment has been rewarded, Bourges has been heard and continues the adventure towards the title of European Capital of Culture!

The sleeping beauty is awake! Bourges had the legitimacy to participate in a European-scale competition, today Bourges proves once again that culture has always been part of its DNA.

In France, funding has been concentrated on the outskirts of metropolitan areas rather than on small and medium-sized towns. This had a strong impact on peripheral territories, small towns and median towns, rurality and what is now called ultra-rurality. But, times are changing, today’s results prove it. Small and medium-sized towns are what we call territories of the future, they are the backbone of the European Union and they can be the future of Europe. The title of European Capital of Culture is the ideal lever for Bourges to make its ambitions a reality.  

We were honored to share this competition with the other cities, in the first round, who did a tremendous job. In the second round, Bourges will be in competition with Rouen, Clermont-Ferrand, Montpellier whom we congratulate for the progress made. Let the best win !

We would like to thank all those who contributed to our application, the Berruyer.e.s, the City of Bourges, the Bourges Plus conurbation, the Cher department, the Centre-Val de Loire region, the structures and associations culture, businesses, artists, merchants and inhabitants of the territory.