European Capitals of Culture: here is the list until 2028

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Since 1985, the European Capital of Culture (ECC) label has designated one or more cities each year that program twelve months of events highlighting the cultural diversity of the continent and the social transformation capabilities offered by artistic creation.

Led by the European Commission, this title requires ambitious applications, evaluated several years in advance by a jury of independent experts. The objective: to strengthen the sense of European belonging, stimulate the local economy, and establish new urban narratives for the long term. Here is the list of European Capitals of Culture until 2028.

2025: The year of disappearing borders

In 2025, the torch passed to Chemnitz (Germany) and to the cross-border tandem Nova Gorica–Gorizia (Slovenia/Italy).

• Chemnitz 2025 aims to combine industrial past and social innovation around the motto “C the Unseen”. Its team invites 38 neighbouring municipalities to join the “Capital Region of Culture”, in a spirit of artistic inclusion.
• On the other side of the Alps, GO! Borderless 2025 promises 600 events ranging from contemporary music to digital arts to symbolize the reunification of the two cities once separated by the Iron Curtain.

These two projects illustrate the label’s historical vocation: to transform peripheral territories into cultural gateways to Europe.

2026: Heading towards the North and the heart of Europe

The year 2026 will have two European Capitals of Culture:

• Oulu, Finland, on the edge of the Arctic, aims to combine northern latitude with creative energy. Its programming is based on three pillars: “Brave Hinterland,” “Cool Contrasts,” and “Wild City.” Winter concerts under the Northern Lights, digital art residencies, and Sami rituals will interact to redefine the relationship between technology and nature.
• Trenčín (Slovakia) is focusing on the reconquest of its medieval and industrial heritage with the slogan “Cultivating Curiosity”. Redeveloped river parks, stage bridges on the Váh, partnerships with the macro-regional capitals of the Danube: all initiatives aimed at repositioning the city as a creative hub of Central Europe.

Beyond international visibility, these two cities intend to bequeath a sustainable “toolbox” to their inhabitants – a cultural but also ecological, digital and touristic legacy.

2027: The Atlantic and the Baltic in unison

Évora (Portugal) and Liepāja (Latvia) will represent Europe in 2027.

• A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Evora embraces the vagar philosophy – “the art of existing differently” – to challenge our development models. Events include meetings on bioclimatic urban planning, workshops on Alentejo ceramics, and dialogues with Portuguese-speaking countries.
• On the shores of the Baltic Sea, Liepāja, nicknamed “the city where the wind is born,” will focus on music, from Baroque organs to electronic experimentation. The project also connects the Kurzeme region and coastal communities to rehabilitate abandoned port areas into floating performance venues.

The 2027 tandem illustrates the label’s ability to connect Atlantic and Nordic peripheries around common themes: social cohesion, intergenerational transmission and green transition.

2028: A trilogy to envision the Europe of tomorrow

The year 2028 will be exceptional as it will have three European Capitals of Culture:

1. Bourges (France) – the city of Jacques Cœur and the Printemps de Bourges festival – aims to become a laboratory for rural and peri-urban cultural innovations. Its “Shared Culture” plan includes farm-residences, a university dedicated to artistic reuse, and connections with other major cities in the Loire region.
2. České Budějovice / Budweis (Czech Republic) draws on its Hanseatic and brewing heritage to unite a network of “micro-capitals” in the South Bohemian region. Conferences on water as a shared heritage, a Vltava River aquatic film festival, and a reinterpretation of the beer route are expected to attract visitors and researchers.
3. Skopje (North Macedonia), the first non-EU candidate capital since Rijeka, intends to champion the slogan “Culture over Division.” Exhibitions on modernist reconstruction after the 1963 earthquake, artistic bridges with Thessaloniki and Pristina, and a citizen observatory for the cultural climate are among the planned activities.

This triple designation, made possible by the rotation between Member States and candidate countries / EFTA, signals the EU’s desire to consolidate cultural as well as geopolitical enlargement.

A cultural horizon already in motion

From Chemnitz to the banks of the Vltava, from the Gulf of Bothnia to the plains of the Alentejo, the map of European Capitals of Culture until 2028 reveals a network of cities ready to rethink their future through art, inclusion, and experimentation. Behind each designation lies a ten-year project: five years to prepare, one to celebrate, and four to ensure its sustainability. Undoubtedly, the calls for volunteers, artist residencies, and European collaborations already underway will offer citizens as many opportunities to participate as to be amazed. The race is on: it’s up to everyone to book their train (or bike) ticket to these future creative epicentres.

Article written on May 24, 2025. All projects mentioned are subject to change; consult official websites for updates.