The 'Druth Is Out There - The Campaign for Redruth Town of Culture 2028

Earlier this year, led by Bethia Naughton-Rumbo, we campaigned for Redruth to become Town of Culture 2028.

Once known as the richest square mile in the United Kingdom, Redruth has spent decades being overlooked. The mines closed. The brewery shut. And a town with an extraordinary history, deep Cornish identity, and a quietly thriving creative scene found itself consistently passed over by the cultural establishment.

The UK Town of Culture competition will award £3 million for the winning town, £250,000 for each of the two finalists, and £60,000 bid development grants for shortlisted towns following the Expression of Interest phase.

As part of our campaign we published over 60 posts - from interviews with local organisations and businesses, to a love letter, film and poem by Will Coleman, to our viral Wes Anderson-inspired solidarity (friendly rivalry?) post with Penzance. You can still view them all on Instagram.

So, our expression of interest is in and the shortlist is expected imminently. But in the meantime, what ever the verdict, a former mining town that has long been overlooked spent three months making sure it could no longer be ignored.

The ’druth is out there - and now, so is the story of what it could become.

Read all about how the campaign came together — from Felix claiming the @townofcultureuk Instagram handle mid-bike ride and the creation of Bethia’s incredible videos and the impact they had — in Bethia’s blog post below.

Bethia Naughton-Rumbo by Jonathan Cherry