Home - Medway 2025

Welcome to Medway 2025.

Our UK City of Culture bid.

This is the year we submit our bid to be UK City of Culture in 2025.

The bid is being shaped by people across Medway’s towns, villages and peninsula.

We invite everyone of all ages and backgrounds to join us and get involved in a year-long cultural programme that will shine a light on Medway’s personality and stories.

Find Out More ABOUT MEDWAY'S BID

THE GREAT BIG IDEAS CALL OUT - SUBMIT YOUR IDEA

Back Medway’s bid to be UK City of Culture 2025

Welcome to the official website for Medway’s UK City of Culture 2025. Over the next year Medway is bidding to be UK City of Culture as part of a major national competition. Hosting in 2025 would be a real game-changer for Medway, giving young people a key role within its cultural life, creating a legacy …

Back Medway’s bid to be UK City of Culture 2025 Read More »

A new Cultural Strategy: Help shape Medway’s future

A new Cultural Strategy for MedwayMedway Cultural Partnership in partnership with Medway Council are overseeing the development of a new Cultural Strategy for Medway over the next ten years (2020-2030). Over the course of 2020 GJG Consultancy supported by evaluation and research specialists Ruth Melville Research and The Audience Agency have been running consultation sessions …

A new Cultural Strategy: Help shape Medway’s future Read More »

Community consultation

We want to get as many people as possible who live, work or study in Medway involved in the conversation to make Medway’s City of Culture bid and new Cultural Strategy as ambitious and inclusive as possible. We want to make sure it reflects who we are, where we’ve come from and where we are …

Community consultation Read More »

A new digital arts festival, Electric Medway

Brand new digital festival Electric Medway is taking place right now online and across Medway. The festival runs from 28th August to 6th September and is totally free and with content for all ages. The festival is the first of its kind in the area and is produced by Sparked Echo and devised in partnership …

A new digital arts festival, Electric Medway Read More »

Photograph of a boat on the River Medway

We are recruiting Trustees and Working Group members

Medway’s bid is off to a flying start. We’ve engaged hundreds of people across the area and built up considerable cross-sector support. Now we are looking for members of new working groups and a board of Trustees to take Medway’s bid the next step on our City of Culture 2025 journey. Who we are looking …

We are recruiting Trustees and Working Group members Read More »

Back Medway 2025 by downloading our new Supporter Pack

Our City of Culture bid brings together people, organisations and businesses across Medway and the South East. We want to encourage everyone to #BackMedway and help to write the next chapter of Medway’s story. Everyone has a role to play, especially in helping to spread the word. Share your support for Medway 2025 across your …

Back Medway 2025 by downloading our new Supporter Pack Read More »

Medway’s new Cultural Strategy: be part of Medway’s creative future

Ambitious and forward-thinking, Medway’s new 2020-2030 Cultural Strategy will inspire our 2025 Medway UK City of Culture bid and will be led by the Creative Medway Delivery Model, a unique and radical framework that puts people of Medway at its centre. Currently in its final development phase the strategy has been shaped over the last …

Medway’s new Cultural Strategy: be part of Medway’s creative future Read More »

Calling all Medway businesses and organisations: Back Medway and back the bid!

Make your voice heard as part of Medway’s UK City of Culture bid and show what Medway 2025 means to you and your organisation. We are calling on all Medway businesses to put their name down as a Bid Supporter and make a statement backing the bid. Medway’s City of Culture bid is a collective …

Calling all Medway businesses and organisations: Back Medway and back the bid! Read More »

Two colourful 'Love Medway' designs by children on A4 paper displayed in a front window with a flower box

Medway 2025 invites youngsters to back the bid in ‘Love Medway’ Valentine’s Day competition

Medway’s UK 2025 City of Culture bid together with the Medway Champions, Medway Place Board and local arts organisation Art Is For All, have teamed up to invite school age children across Medway to take part in a Valentine’s Day creative competition to back Medway’s bid and express their pride in their local neighbourhood. The …

Medway 2025 invites youngsters to back the bid in ‘Love Medway’ Valentine’s Day competition Read More »

Living or learning in Medway? Aged 14-18? Get your voice heard!

We are putting together plans for 365 days of creative events, shows, fashion, performances, food, exhibitions, video gaming, festivals and much, much more across the whole of Medway, for everyone. The creative programming is down to you! If you want to make sure that the opportunities, creative events and the future of Medway are relevant …

Living or learning in Medway? Aged 14-18? Get your voice heard! Read More »

THE GREAT BIG IDEAS CALL OUT

Tell us what you would like to see happen in Medway in 2025 and over the life of Medway's new Creative Medway cultural strategy! Creative commissions, public events, community projects or changes to Medway's places and spaces.... tell us who you would like to have perform, what opportunities you would like for local people and how you would like to see Medway brought to life? No idea is too big or too small!

Step 1 of 3

Your full name or company name*

Email*

Enter Email Confirm Email

We’ll only use this if we’d like to talk to you about using your idea.

Phone*

We’ll only use this if we’d like to talk to you about using your idea.

Tell us about your idea/s here or upload an image, audio or video file below.*

We can accept BSL submissions or submissions in languages other than English. Please let us know what language you are submitting in by commenting here.

Upload image

Max. file size: 300 MB.

Upload audio/video

Max. file size: 300 MB.

(1 minute maximum)

Please let us know whether you or your organisation would like to be personally involved in making your idea happen?*

Yes

If you tick 'yes' we won't use your idea without involving you.

Consent*

I agree to the use of my idea

By uploading an idea, you’re giving Creative Medway and Medway's City of Culture bid permission to use it in developing projects in Medway. We won’t do this without talking to you first if you have said you want to be involved in making your idea happen. Do you agree to this?

Privacy*

I agree to the privacy policy.

By including your name, contact details and any additional GDPR sensitive information along with your idea, you are consenting for your data to be held by both the Medway 2025 bid and Creative Medway - http://medwayculturalstrategy.co.uk/creative-medway. We will store your information securely and you can opt out of hearing from us or request we delete your data at any time by contacting us via our websites. We will only use your information to contact you about the idea you submitted over the course of the Medway 2025 bid and Medway’s cultural strategy led by Creative Medway.

“Recognition as UK City of Culture has the potential to regenerate Medway and celebrate the area's achievements locally, nationally and internationally. Our ambitious new Cultural Strategy co-created with our community, captures a proud, diverse collective voice that aspires to make culture and creativity inclusive of everyone in Medway and empower our young people as drivers of creative and cultural change here.”

Fiona Watt

Chair, Creative Medway Cultural Compact

The Medway Place Board is proud of our people and communities across Medway. The spirit, passion and enthusiasm that they show for Medway is clear to see. We are pleased that our bid for City of Culture status is helping to galvanise our common purpose, to make our place something we can all be proud of, recognising just how diverse and different all of the various parts of Medway are.

Simon Cook

Chair, Medway Place Board

As a young creative in Medway, I set up Medway Fashion Week to shine a light on the amazing innovation present throughout the area. It is fantastic to see our communities coming together to put Medway forward as City of Culture 2025. We have such a strong culture scene, from fashion and beyond, so there is a lot we have to shout about as part of this bid.

Eddy Eguaoje

Founder, Medway Fashion Week

Key Supporters

Stay up to date

Submit your contact details below to receive regular email updates about the bid progress, news on events and opportunities to work with us.

Name*
First Name Last Name
Email*
Enter Email Confirm Email
*
By signing up to the Medway 2025 mailing list, you are consenting for your data to be held by both the Medway 2025 bid and We Are Medway CIC. We will store your information securely and you can opt out of hearing from us or request we delete your data at any time via our newsletter opt out functions or by contacting us via our websites. We will use your information to send you updates and invitations and communicate with you about the bid and any We Are Medway updates, over the course of the life of both the bid and the Medway Placeboard.