The Mayor Sadiq Khan today announced the winners of the hotly contested London Borough of Culture competition. Waltham Forest will be the first borough to be awarded the title – in 2019, followed by Brent in 2020.

The London Borough of Culture award, a flagship manifesto commitment, is a major new initiative launched by Sadiq in June 2017 – inspired by the UK City and European Capital of Culture programmes.

Each winning borough will be awarded £1.35million of funding¹ to deliver a programme of ambitious cultural activities, placing culture at the heart of communities and celebrating the unique character of local people and places. In total, 22 boroughs submitted bids to be London Borough of Culture. Recently, Sadiq committed £1m of extra funding to London Borough of Culture, to inspire young Londoners to become the next generation of creative talent.

Waltham Forest – London Borough of Culture 2019

Waltham Forest will be the inaugural London Borough of Culture in 2019. Waltham Forest’s bid promises a year of exciting cultural activity across the outer London borough, and has an ambitious target of getting 85 per cent of households to participate, attracting half a million visits.

More than 12,000 local people backed Waltham Forest’s submission from across the borough’s diverse communities. Drawing on this diversity was a key strength of Waltham Forest’s bid.