HULL will host "the biggest party the city has ever seen" if it wins the City of Culture 2017 title. More details of the year-long programme have been revealed as Hull nervously awaits the announcement as to which city has scooped the prestigious title.
Bid adviser Andrew Dixon said Hull's programme had been received enthusiastically by the judging panel during the final "gruelling" presentation in Londonderry last week.
He said: "Hull did itself proud last week and the amount of public support behind the bid has been sensational.
"I think the judges recognised we had put together a really strong bid that was distinctly Hull and let's hope that now translates into winning the title.
"Obviously, there are three very strong other bids to take into account, but all we can do now is wait and see."
Should Hull win the competition, it will host a trio of major events including Larkin's Lamp, a musical project called Band In A Van and a massive stadium party spectacular called Sonic Lumiere, which is described as the "biggest party" ever to be staged in Hull.
Larkin's Lamp will be part of a major retrospective of the poet's work, which will shine a huge lamp on buildings in the city that inspired Philip Larkin's poetry. The project will also see a massive stage shaped like an umbrella installed at the University of Hull, where poets and local schools will stage daily performances.
The Band In A Van will see a quartet of well-known UK musicians driving across Europe from St Petersburg to Hull, picking up a leading musician at every city on the way, before staging a headlining concert on their arrival in East Yorkshire.
Finally, at the climax of the year, Hull will host the "stadium-sized" Sonic Lumiere party, which its creator, Andrew Pearson, says would be a mixture of movement, music and magic.
The event would feature a spectacular light show by Hull lighting designer Durham Marenghi, who has previously created shows for The Queen's Golden Jubilee Celebrations, The London 2012 Olympics and Pink Floyd's The Wall.
The show will also feature 500 dancers, new music from Hull's Fila Brazillia, illusionists and an "international superstar DJ".
Mr Pearson said: "The idea was to provide a really spectacular climax to a year of celebration in Hull and the biggest party Hull has ever seen."
Hull will find out if it has succeeded in its year-long campaign, overcoming competition from other finalists Dundee, Leicester and Swansea, with an official announcement from The Department for Culture, Media and Sport at 7.45am tomorrow. Members of the bidding team and those who have contributed to the programme will gather at Hull Truck to hear the decision.
• The Hull Daily Mail will cover the announcement and reaction on Wednesday morning from 7am. UK City of Culture title would release £12m for HullShould Hull win the UK City of Culture 2017 title, it would release £12m in funding for cultural events in the city. The programme would include more than 1,500 events, including a spectacular Four Rivers opening ceremony featuring 3,000 lantern-bearing volunteers, dancing white phone boxes and elephants walking through the streets of Hull.
So far, more than 66,000 people in 143 countries have viewed the This City Belongs To Everyone video created by Hull's Nova Studios, especially for the bid presentation in Londonderry last week. Bid adviser Andrew Dixon says this has put Hull on the map.
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