Bradford has been named the UK's City of Culture 2025 - a big blow for Wales as Wrexham, which was one of four finalists, missed out on the top prize.
The announcement of the winner was made live on BBC's The One Show by UK Culture secretary Nadine Dorries.
Bradford will hold the prestigious title in 2025, following in the footsteps of Coventry, Derry/Londonderry and Hull. Benefits of scooping the gong include attracting millions of pounds of investment to boost regeneration, a year in the cultural spotlight with hundreds of events and a tourism bonanza.
Twenty applicants were whittled down to a shortlist of four, with Bradford, Southampton and Wrexham County Borough failing to get the gong. But Ms Dorries said those who did not win will be going home with £125,000 each.
The Bradford 2025 official bid account on Twitter wrote: “This is our time to celebrate our extraordinary district – and for our young population to become leaders and change-makers to begin an exciting new chapter in our story.”
Sarah Manning, a young ambassador for the City of Culture bid team, told the BBC: "Bradford has always been a bit of an underdog but we are not an underdog, we are proud to be from Bradford. We feel like we are ready for it. We think it's going to give us more opportunities."
Bradford's events included the Soweto Gospel Choir, a parody musical about the TV show Friends, and a children’s show with puppet dragons and mythical beasts. As well as the title, the English city has also won £500million in regeneration funding.
The news came as a bitter blow to those behind Wrexham's bid - who had hoped the north Wales city chances of winning the award would be boosted by its football club Wrexham FC - which is now famously managed by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham's bid also focussing on the idea of play, for both adults and children alike, showing how they could bring the community together. The former town had applied to be a city on three separate occasions - in 2000, 2002, and 2012 - but was unsuccessful each time.
Another Welsh city that missed out on the prize previously was Swansea in 2018, which had made the final shortlist that year.
