Inverness-Highland has taken a major step forward in its campaign to become UK City of Culture 2029 with the submission of the Beò! 2029 bid to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
As the only Scottish entry in the competition and the first in its history to represent both a city and wider region, Beò! 2029 showcases the Highlands as place of living culture - ancient and modern, rooted in the region’s people, place, language, landscape and creativity.
Inverness-Highland will compete against Blackpool, Ipswich, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Swindon and Wrexham for the title. A panel of judges will assess all nine submissions before announcing a shortlist of up to four locations in October 2026.
Youth champions
To celebrate reaching the submission milestone, Beò! 2029 has unveiled its first group of Youth Champions. They represent emerging talent from across the Highlands that embody the positivity, passion and optimism that sits at the heart of the bid proposal.
Aged between 14 and 24, the Youth Champions are building profiles and careers across a range of creative, cultural and sporting disciplines, reflecting the breadth and diversity of the region’s cultural life.
They include:
- Alice Prentice, Visual Artist
- Emma Racionzer, Musician/Illustrator
- Lily Kelman, Highland Dancer
- Michael Lewis, Singer
- Sophie Boyne, Singer/Pianist
Over the coming months, the bid team will be working with the Youth Champions to spotlight emerging talent and showcase the experiences, ambitions and cultural aspirations of young people across the region.
The bid submitted
The Beò! 2029 bid highlights the richness and diversity of culture across Inverness and the Highlands, while demonstrating the vital role culture plays in supporting thriving, resilient and sustainable urban, rural, coastal and island communities.
It sets out how cultural investment can help address challenges such as depopulation, increase participation, strengthen wellbeing and build confidence in the region as a place to live, work, study and create.
Beò! 2029 also seeks to strengthen the region's cultural strategy, foster new partnerships and attract public and private investment that delivers lasting social, economic and community benefits.
It will raise the national and international profile of Inverness and the Highlands through a year-long programme of activities and events that celebrate the region’s unique identity, blending traditional elements with a contemporary twist.
Cllr Bill Lobban, Convener of The Highland Council, said: “The Highland Council is proud to stand behind this bid. Culture is not a luxury or an add-on; it is central to building healthier, more resilient, more connected communities. The bid's focus on tackling depopulation, celebrating our native languages like Gaelic and Scots, and demonstrating how culture thrives beyond cities speaks directly to the challenges and opportunities facing our region. A City of Culture designation would help us break down barriers of geography, income, and isolation, ensuring that the benefits of cultural investment are felt by everyone across the region.”
Màiri McAllan, Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic, said: “I am pleased to confirm the Scottish Government’s strong support for the Inverness-Highland bid to be the UK City of Culture 2029. Scotland’s rich cultural heritage and creativity of today is inspired by people and place, enlivens every community and is celebrated around the world. Evidence from previous City of Culture programmes suggests that the title can contribute substantial increases in visitor numbers and spending, raise the profile of a destination nationally and internationally, and attract further investment. Building on its outstanding natural, cultural and heritage assets, Inverness and the Highlands are ideally positioned to convert this increased visibility into long-term, sustainable tourism growth.”
Bryan Beattie, Beò! 2029 Bid Director, said: “One of the brilliant things about the last few months has been discovering just how many folk, particularly young people, are doing amazing things across the Highlands - in design, music, sport, Gaelic, the environment - and we’ve aimed to capture the spirit of positivity they have shown in the bid documents we’re submitting today. It’s humbling and inspiring to be part of it all, and entirely appropriate that some of those Youth Champions are here today as we formally submit the Inverness-Highland bid.”
Bryan continued: “We’ve put together a really exciting programme - the traditional elements most people would expect are in there, but there’s a contemporary twist on everything - expect robotics, AI, and gaming to feature alongside film, Gaelic, the environment, and music. With venues ranging from Wick harbour to Rum, as well as new found spaces in the city itself, and some UK-wide and international projects and performers.”
Leah McBain, Highland Youth Convener, added : “The City of Culture bid is such a fantastic opportunity not only for Inverness but Highland as a whole. As Youth Convener, I've had the privilege of speaking to young people across the Highlands and hearing how much their communities mean to them. Inverness is the amplifier of that culture, bringing together people living hundreds of miles apart, all with that same pride of where they're from. I feel like supporting this bid is just natural. Being a Highlander, you support what supports others. We're a welcoming people; I think this bid has really shown that."
Youth champions
Michael Lewis, a Swing Singer from Inverness who recently performed with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra in Canada, said: “I’m incredibly proud to call the Highlands home and to support the Beò! 2029 bid. I’ve lived here for the past four years, and in that time the Highlands have become a really important part of who I am and of my journey as a singer and performer.
There is so much young creative talent here, and becoming UK City of Culture would give people across the Highlands a bigger platform to show what we can do. I’m very lucky to be starting to perform further afield, but I’m proud to be building my career from the Highlands.
I hope Beò! 2029 can inspire more young people to believe that you don’t have to leave the Highlands to have big ambitions. We can create here, build careers here and take Highland creativity out into the world.”
Alice Prentice, founder of Isle of Riso - a community-led risograph print studio and creative hub in Inverness, said: “I support Beò! 2029 because I left home to study art straight after school, and I genuinely worried I’d never be able to build a creative life back here - but I was so wrong. The Highlands are full of contemporary culture and serious talent, and the scene feels more vibrant by the day. City of Culture status would give our creatives a stronger platform, open up more routes into creative careers for all kinds of people - not just those with the right connections - and show the region as it really is: a buzzing place to live, work, and be creative!”
Emma Racionzer, a Highland Trad musician and design student, said: “It is a privilege to support the bid. I’m so excited about the life changing opportunities a win could bring young creatives in the Highlands.”
Lily Kelman, a former World Champion Highland Dancer who runs her own Dance School in Inverness, said: "Highland dance is woven into the fabric of our culture here in Inverness and across the Highlands. I'm passionate about preserving the tradition, but also seeing it thrive and evolve for future generations. Beò! 2029 is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our heritage, but also to bring it into a modern era, inspiring new audiences across the world. I'm excited about the opportunities it could create for young dancers across the region."
Sophie Boyne, a Singer and Pianist who features in Series 4 of Channel 4’s The Piano, said: “I’ve been lucky to have had lots of opportunities to perform in the Highlands, which gave me the confidence to enter The Piano. I want other young people to have these opportunities too. The Highlands is full of lots of talented young people and I hope this bid provides a platform and the exposure they deserve.”
Beò! 2029
Beò! - meaning ‘alive’ or ‘living’ in Gaelic - was chosen as the name for the bid to reflect the Highlands as a place of living culture - dynamic, welcoming and contemporary, while rooted in the region's rich Gaelic heritage and traditions.