Romania launches competition for the European Capital of Culture 2021 title

Romania recently launched the competition that will design the Romanian city that will receive the title of European Capital of Culture in 2021, according to Minister of Culture Hegedüs Csilla. The deadline for submitting applications is October 10, 2015. “The European Parliament and the European Commission decided in April that Romania and Greece can each nominate a city that will become the European Capital of Culture. We were told we have six years to prepare that city, to launch the competition, which is why we launch this competition now,” Csilla said. All cities will have 10 months to prepare the application form, the deadline for submitting the applications being October 10, 2015. The final selection will be organized around august 2016 by an international jury, while the winner will be designated at the end of 2016. The European Capital of Culture initiative was developed in 1985 and has, to date, been awarded to over 50 cities across the European Union. The 2014 European Capitals of Culture are Umea in Sweden and Riga in Latvia. Romania’s Sibiu was the European Cultural Capital in 2007. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com