Leeuwarden, in Friesland has been nominated as European Capital of Culture for 2018. Leeuwarden won the accolade on the basis of its cultural programme with a strong European dimension and the participation of the city’s and region’s people.

The formal nomination of Leeuwarden will take place in the May 2014 meeting of the Council of Ministers. Leeuwarden will join Valletta as European Capital of Culture in 2018, following Marseille (France) and Košice (Slovakia) this year, Umeå (Sweden) and Riga, a HyER member (Latvia) will be European Capitals of Culture in 2014; Mons (Belgium) and Plzen (Czech Republic) in 2015; Wrocław, also a HyER member (Poland) and Donostia-San Sebastián (Spain) in 2016; Aarhus (Denmark) and Paphos (Cyprus) in 2017.

Read the full press release here