Can Slough win UK Town of Culture 2028?
When I first suggested we should bid, the reaction was instant.
“No way.”
“What is good about Slough?”
“We are too close to London.”
“Social media will tear us apart.”
“With the council’s financial history? Impossible.”
To the naysayers I say: bring it on.
If perception is the problem, then this is precisely the solution.
Our strengths far outweigh the noise. We saw it at the Hobby Festival. Grassroots creativity everywhere you looked: dance, choirs, model railways, VR, crafts, poetry. Not imported culture. Home-grown culture. Slough culture.
We have top-class arts organisations, from Amina Khayyam Dance Company to the popular Dance School, Creative Academy, and we sit at the heart of Berkshire’s film and television scene with Resource Productions nurturing new talent.
We also have something few towns can claim. Slough is, quietly, the digital capital of the UK. Our data centres power vast parts of the internet. Global technology companies operate from here. Thousands work in AI, telecoms and advanced digital infrastructure on our doorstep.
We are perfectly placed to bridge traditional art forms with the digital world.
We have young people with ideas, energy and ambition. And we have something many places would envy communities that, despite the headlines, live side by side and largely get along.
Yes, we have an unfair reputation. But reputations are not permanent. They are stories. And stories can be rewritten.
Here is a funny story, recently the Observer carried a headline: “Station near Slough closed due to Mass Stabbing.” The incident happened in Egham. Yet much of the online reaction focused not on the mass stabbing, but on distancing. “We are nowhere near Slough,” the Egham people cried, as if proximity were a misfortune.
That reaction tells you everything about the image problem we face.
This bid is about changing that mindset.
Our ambition is not simply to win a title and have a party. It is mobilising the whole town behind a shared civic mission. That level of civic energy changes how a place feels and how young people see their future. It resets the narrative and makes culture visible, confident and undeniable.
Imagine Slough associated with film, music, dance, innovation and community spirit rather than tired stereotypes.
Imagine in 2028, people of Egham proudly claiming to be neighbours of the UK Town of Culture.
Can Slough win? Yes.
Vineet Vijh is the Director of Viva Slough, and Bid Manager for Slough’s Bid for UK’s Town of Culture competition 2028
