Squeaky Pedal received some amazing new that we were chosen by Lancashire 2025 to create a showcase film for something very special.
Now what may this special project be? Lancashire have put in a bid to become the UK City of Culture in 2025, however, they will be one of the first counties to promote themselves as a virtual city. This comes as Lancashire aims 'To drive transformational change within the economy to create a better future for the people of Lancashire'. The bid will ultimately provide the county with a year of celebrations which will engage and inspire the people of Lancashire.
The UK City of Culture takes place every four years, funded by the Government. The Award has helped many of its past winners to secure millions of pounds of investment for the area, which has led to culture-led regeneration and has created catalyst for creative place-making. For Lancashire 2025, it is, 'a virtual City of 1.5 million inhabitants that connects the different identities of Lancashire to reshape a better, creative and more sustainable way of living in UK.'
Lancashire 2025 will combine the physical and virtual elements of the county by reimagining life through high-profiles, creative projects and cultural experiences in 100 locations across the county. Whilst Lancashire is not, technically, a physical “city”, in today’s digital age, their aim is to connect people with geographic diversity and are propose the creation of the Virtual City of Lancashire. Tony Attard, the Chair of Lancashire 2025, commented, 'Lancashire is 80% rural, with 137 miles of coastline, assets that add immense value to our cultural landscape and that we want to emphasise, not underplay. We also have significant urban centres, all of which have their own distinct identities, none of which dominate in scale and again, each one with assets that will add weight to our bid.'
The digital element of the bid will bring together the 96 real world locations in Lancashire in 4 imagined neighbourhoods in one digital map. The map will allow the audience to see the strengths and the ambitions of each of the locations, whilst bringing communities together. Lancashire 2025 will ultimately showcase the story of diverse people, cultures, networks, coming together, transcending boundaries of culture, technology and location.
For the showcase film, Lancashire 2025 wanted a film that that gave a real sense of ambition and vision for the bid, whilst also representing the future of Lancashire 2025. With the film we created, we hope that it creates an impact with the people of Lancashire to find out more about the event, and to get involved. The winner of the UK City of Culture 2021 will be announced in December 2021.
