The Melina Mercouri prize is a €1.5M award made by the European Commission.

The recommendation was made by the panel who had travelled to Galway for the third and final monitoring meeting which took place today October 15th in the Marine Institute in Oranmore. The announcement from Galway marked the first time the recommendation was made in a host city. Rijeka in Croatia, which shares the European Capital of Culture 2020 designation with Galway, also received the recommendation  from the panel and representatives from the Rijeka European Capital of Culture team were in Galway for the announcement.

Speaking at the announcement CEO of Galway 2020 Patricia Philbin said “We are honoured to welcome the European Capital of Culture Monitoring and Advisory panel, representatives from the European Commission and from Rijeka European Capital of Culture team to Galway this week.  And we are very grateful that the panel has recommended the awarding of the Melina Mercouri prize to Galway 2020. We are now just four months from the opening ceremony of Galway 2020 and there is a real sense of momentum building, not just here in Galway, but right around the country for the year ahead. Today is another incredibly important milestone on our journey.”

The European Capital of Culture is a national designation and the European initiative, which began in 1985, has developed into one of the most ambitious cultural projects in Europe.  The European Capital of Culture designation is made four years in advance to allow for planning and preparation of the event. The monitoring and advisory panel is appointed to offer advice, guidance and monitor preparations to the European Capitals of Culture. At the end of this monitoring period, the panel considers whether to recommend that the European Commission awards the Melina Mercouri Prize.

Chair of the Panel Beatriz Garcia “Today we congratulate Galway and Rijeka as they embark on the final preparations for their year as European Capitals of Culture 2020. Today we wish to acknowledge and celebrate the hard work of each of the teams and wish them every success in this endeavour. The panel is pleased to recommend that both cities receive the Melina Mercouri Prize.”

Galway 2020 is the largest and most complex cultural event ever undertaken on the island of Ireland comprising over 1,900 events across 154 projects, 170 partnerships and collaborations with local, national, European and international artists and cultural organisations from over 30 different countries.

Chair of Galway 2020 Arthur Lappin said “At their core European Capitals of Culture highlight the richness of Europe’s cultural diversity and allow us to take a fresh look at our shared history and heritage. Today as we gather with our friends from Rijeka to celebrate this really important recommendation there is a growing understanding of how the language of creativity opens Europe to cultures from across the world. We wish to thank the panel for this recommendation, for their guidance and support and we look forward to delivering a tremendous year for Galway, Ireland and Europe.”