31st October – Why I’m all fired up to launch Ipswich’s City of Culture bid

What a weekend for Ipswich.

On Saturday night, Fabio Wardley stood tall under the bright lights of the O2 Arena. With “Ipswich Town FC” stitched proudly on his shorts, he delivered a victory for the underdog.

In a tantalising contest, he absorbed everything former world champion Joseph Parker could throw at him before roaring back to claim an 11th-round victory, a triumph that captured not just his courage, but the pride and fighting spirit of our town.

That same spirit was alive back home, as the SPILL Festival transformed the Cornhill into a colourful playground of creativity and performance, filling our town centre with energy and imagination. Ipswich became a stage, where venues across our town mixed world-class artists and incredible local talent in a way that was bold, ambitious and uniquely ours.

This weekend marks just one moment in an incredible 2025 for Ipswich, a year that has put our town in the national spotlight, and brought us onto the global stage. From Ed Sheeran’s unforgettable hat-trick of homecoming shows at Portman Road, which brought together over 90,000 fans from across the world, to the standout community-led events, such as Brighten the Corners and Ipswich Book Festival, the town has been bursting with unforgettable moments, happiness, and a real sense of togetherness.

Alongside all of this, our new Portal – the UK’s first - has opened a window between our town and cities around the world. It’s a project that perfectly captures what makes Ipswich special: outward-looking, open-hearted, and brimming with ambition. As the BBC’s report said: ‘we've had a huge increase in smiles, waving and general joy here on the Cornhill.’.

Together, these achievements and initiatives show a town coming into its own, full of bold ideas, pride, and limitless potential. That is exactly why I’ve been working with our arts and culture community to prepare for one of the most exciting opportunities in our Ipswich’s modern history, a bid for UK City of Culture 2029.Fabio Wardley is keen to fight Oleksandr Usyk

The scheme extends to large towns as well as cities, so Ipswich is eligible. Previous winners like Hull, Coventry, and Bradford have seen huge investment, job creation, and renewed local pride. There’s no reason why Ipswich can’t follow in their footsteps.

Over the summer, I convened some of our town’s leading creatives at St Stephen’s Church for our first formal discussion about a potential bid. The room was buzzing with ideas, from theatre-makers and musicians to festival organisers and designers, all united by a shared belief that culture can be the driving force behind Ipswich’s regeneration.

We will meet again in the coming weeks, where we’ll explore what a City of Culture bid could mean for Ipswich, hear updates on the national process, and shape a proposal that captures our town’s energy, identity and ambition.

People sometimes ask me ‘what has Ipswich got?’. I tell them to look around. We have world-class musicians, actors and artists; a stunning waterfront, theatres, museums and parks; community organisations transforming lives through creativity; entrepreneurs breathing life into our town centre; and sportspeople like Fabio Wardley, showing our fighting spirit to the world.

Of course, our town has felt the impact of years of underinvestment, cuts and the cost-of-living squeeze. Yet what I see - and what last weekend has proven - is that we have a community rebuilding our town from the ground up. There is a real sense of belief returning to Ipswich: in the crowds at local events, in the artists painting murals across our streets, and in the volunteers who make our festivals happen.

A City of Culture bid is not just about art and performance. It is about saying, loudly and proudly, that Ipswich deserves to be recognised, invested in, and celebrated on the national stage. These are not just cultural projects, they are engines of regeneration, renewal and pride. A place proud of its past but ready to write a bold new chapter for its future.

This is the Ipswich that I am fighting for. This is the Ipswich that I am proud of. This is the Ipswich that I love.