Bucharest City Hall, via its cultural center ARCUB, filed Bucharest’s second candidacy file for the European Capital of Culture 2021 title, thus entering the final stage of the competition.

The document submitted on August 12 to the Ministry of Culture comprises all the projects the city intends to implement by 2021 if it wins the European title.

Under the In-Visible City concept, Bucharest’s candidacy aims to bring to light the city’s forgotten, unimaginable, and unrealized aspects, as well as its unexploited and invisible potential. The 70 projects included in the file are divided into three themes and are to be implemented over six years.

A European jury will visit Bucharest on September 14. The next day, the city will present its candidacy file in front of the jury, while the competition’s results will be announced on September 16.

Four Romanian cities have been shortlisted for the European Capital of Culture 2021 title, namely Bucharest, Baia-Mare, Cluj-Napoca, and Timisoara.

The European Capital of Culture initiative was developed in 1985 and the title has, to date, been awarded to more than 50 cities across the European Union. The 2016 Capitals of Culture are Donostia-San Sebastian in Spain and Wroclaw in Poland. Romania’s Sibiu held this title in 2007.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com