Stirling landmark lit up with special poem as part of City of Culture bid

Lines from a collective poem by the people of Stirling have been projected onto a national landmark as their home bids to become UK City of Culture 2025.
By Lucinda Cameron
Published 2nd Feb 2022, 08:27 BST

In December, local people were invited to send in 25 words for 2025, which were woven into a poem reflecting the “passions, hopes, dreams and desires of the people of Stirling” by the city’s makar, Laura Fyfe.

It was projected onto the National Wallace Monument on Tuesday evening in an immersive light show featuring moving imagery overlaid with verse.

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The digital showcase marked the official submission of Stirling’s bid to become UK City of Culture 2025.

Handout photo of the Wallace Monument in Stirling illuminated with special effects to launch the city of Stirling's bid for UK City of Culture 2025. Entries from the eight longlisted cities are due to be submitted to the UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport on Wednesday and Stirling is the only Scottish city still in the running. Issue date: Wednesday February 2, 2022.Handout photo of the Wallace Monument in Stirling illuminated with special effects to launch the city of Stirling's bid for UK City of Culture 2025. Entries from the eight longlisted cities are due to be submitted to the UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport on Wednesday and Stirling is the only Scottish city still in the running. Issue date: Wednesday February 2, 2022.
Handout photo of the Wallace Monument in Stirling illuminated with special effects to launch the city of Stirling's bid for UK City of Culture 2025. Entries from the eight longlisted cities are due to be submitted to the UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport on Wednesday and Stirling is the only Scottish city still in the running. Issue date: Wednesday February 2, 2022.

Entries from the eight long-listed cities are due to be submitted to the UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport on Wednesday, and Stirling is the only Scottish city still in the running.

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Kevin Harrison, Manager of Scene Stirling, which represents the city’s arts and cultural partners, said: “Back in December we invited people to send in their 25 words for 2025 and the citizens of Stirling were quick to embrace this creative challenge. We received over one hundred entries from communities across the area, from Fallin to Thornhill.

“What has shone through is the huge pride and deep affection people feel for their home city, communities and the local landscape.

Handout photo of the Wallace Monument in Stirling illuminated with special effects to launch the city of Stirling's bid for UK City of Culture 2025. Entries from the eight longlisted cities are due to be submitted to the UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport on Wednesday and Stirling is the only Scottish city still in the running. Issue date: Wednesday February 2, 2022.Handout photo of the Wallace Monument in Stirling illuminated with special effects to launch the city of Stirling's bid for UK City of Culture 2025. Entries from the eight longlisted cities are due to be submitted to the UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport on Wednesday and Stirling is the only Scottish city still in the running. Issue date: Wednesday February 2, 2022.
Handout photo of the Wallace Monument in Stirling illuminated with special effects to launch the city of Stirling's bid for UK City of Culture 2025. Entries from the eight longlisted cities are due to be submitted to the UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport on Wednesday and Stirling is the only Scottish city still in the running. Issue date: Wednesday February 2, 2022.

“Emotions are running high. We know what a massive difference winning would make to our communities, our creative sector and our economy. We want the world to see how special Stirling is and just how much this means to us.

“We’re ready to deliver real social change for all of Stirling with a cultural programme that makes the arts open to all and creates a meaningful legacy for the city, the rest of Scotland and beyond.

“We want Stirling to become internationally renowned for its arts inclusivity.”

The poem will also feature on the cover of Stirling’s bid submission.

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Ms Fyfe said: “It has been an honour to craft the entries into one collective poem that reflects the passions, hopes, dreams and desires of the people of Stirling.

“The project was an opportunity to create something special together and to focus on what we love about this amazing place where we live.

“Stirling’s rich heritage and stunning landscape feature strongly in the poem, but there is also a real sense of hopefulness and excitement about the next chapter in Stirling’s history.”

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is expected to announce the cities shortlisted for UK City of Culture 2025 in March and the winner will be declared in May.

Stirling Council leader, Scott Farmer, said: “Stirling’s bid stems from the passion for culture that flows through our communities, so it’s only fitting that we celebrate the creative spirit of our people in a memorable way as we reach this key stage in the competition.

“There was a fantastic response to this imaginative and collaborative project with people of all ages across Stirling channelling their inner creativity and putting into words what culture means to them.”

Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland, said becoming the UK City of Culture 2025 would be an “outstanding achievement for Stirling and Scotland”.