Handy thoughts on the City of Culture bid.

City of Culture handbook

The local creative community has responded enthusiastically to the council’s eleventh-hour decision to enter a bid for the City of Culture 2017 award.

Among those inspired by the chance to showcase Hastings’ creative diversity was local artist and activist (and HOT founder) Rachel Lever, who started a petition to enable the creative community to show its support for the council’s initiative.

In two weeks more than 1,300 people signed it, prompting Rachel to name it a community petition (the number has since risen to 1,600, she reports). And many didn’t just sign it, they added their comments on how and why Hastings and its environs have become such a focus for creative and cultural ferment.

Rachel has now taken all this material and turned into a handbook which vividly exemplifies the local creative community’s support for the bid and made a suitable addition to the bid package when presented to the council’s head of communications and marketing Kevin Boorman.

In two weeks’ time we will find out whether Hastings has made the shortlist. In the meantime here is Rachel’s brochure.

Also in: Arts News