Is Derby really fit to be the UKs City of Culture?
Subscribe today to get the latest headlines straight to your inbox with our free email updates Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice  The news that Derby has entered the race to become the UK's City of Culture has prompted equal parts excitement and derision. Derby City Council has urged organisations, communities and businesses to get behind the bid and for it to be used as a springboard for regeneration in the city. Here, local writer Nicola Rippon gives her thoughts on the plans and what it could mean for Derby. I've heard a lot of folk scoffing about the city councils decision to apply for the national award as UK City of Culture for 2025. Its understandable that people are sceptical. There can be few cities with a more chequered history than Derby when it comes to keeping its entertainment venues going  we even hide the one functioning purpose-built theatre we do have inside a shopping centre. Ive been a sceptic myself. After all, when it comes to deciding for which public projects it is really worth opening the public purse strings, one council after another does seem to have mis-stepped. Granted, the council was not to blame for the fate of the Hippodrome, although it could probably be argued that its inaction left the old girl vulnerable to irreparable damage. And it was in charge of the Assembly Rooms when it became unusable. But we do have many reasons to be grateful for the construction of the Derby Arena, albeit its initial intended use probably the least compelling of these. After all no one, and no medium-sized city, ever got anywhere without at least a little ambition. Like every city, town and community in the country, we will need investment, innovation and determination to move forward from the Covid crisis. There is no doubt that the entertainment industry  in particular the spheres of live theatre and live performance  has been one of the hardest-hit sectors. I miss all that greatly. Its going to take quite a while before I reach the point of being comfortable in packed theatres and concert halls. But I like to think that, by the time we get to 2025, Ill be there. After all, there is nothing like live performance. That thrill, that frisson, which begins when you enter the auditorium and first catch sight of the set. It gears you up for the moment when the lights go down and your adventure begins. You might be alongside hundreds of little ones at the panto, having their very first experience of live theatre, or with hundreds of teenagers there to see actors perform the words theyve spent months studying on a page. Or, as it is for many of us, on a Wednesday afternoon playing hooky from real life and settling down to a classic matinee. Whatever, its a joy. And one for which we should pull out all the stops to restore. Whether its a Christmas-time fairy-tale, a good-old whodunnit, a Shakespearean tragedy or an Ayckbournian howler, its the kind of experience you simply cannot replicate through a screen. It needs to be in-person. And this may be where the City of Culture element comes in. Because, as much as I like a classic theatre with three tiers, private boxes, ornate plasterwork and velvet upholstery, I know that all manner of venues can serve as great theatres. Ive seen plays performed outdoors, in medieval halls, among castle ruins  even in an old chocolate factory. Just as back rooms in pubs can provide perfect music venues, a theatrical performance can take place just about anywhere from a restaurant to a chapel. Of course, there is much more to culture than theatre. Its about art and music and literature. Derby is well blessed in so many ways. In the work of Joseph Wright, we have some of the worlds greatest art. We have splendid museums and several popular venues. We have the cultural centres that are QUAD and Deda. And we already have countless cultural festivals. In normal times, in both the city itself and the surrounding area, we celebrate a wide variety of music from Folk to Rock, Pop to Classical. We have an international photography festival, a book festival, and the wonderful Feste itself. There are concerts, performances and exhibitions in just about every suburb of the city. In many ways, thats what a UK City of Culture is  somewhere that engages its entire population in culture, creates new performance venues in public spaces  in marketplaces, in pubs and museums and, yes, even in shopping centres. And it introduces its citizens to slices of culture theyd never really considered their thing. Yes, there is scope to improve in Derby  much of it. But there is so much potential, so much to build upon that, if handled correctly, Derby could have a lasting cultural legacy. Being selected as UK City of Culture could provide much-needed finance and creative impetus to do just that. And it could provide platforms to educate ourselves about our history, our communities and about each other. To read all the biggest and best stories first sign up to read our newsletters here