Aveiro has signed an official memorandum expressing its support for Rouen’s European Capital of Culture 2028 bid.
The Rouen Seine Normande 2028 team was in Aveiro, Portugal, for the latest meetings of Culture Next, an informal mutual-support network that promotes friendly exchanges and collaboration between European cities that are or have been candidates for the title of European Capital of Culture. Culture Next meetings are a chance to gain insights from other cities based on their ECOC experiences. Aveiro is bidding to become a European Capital of Culture in 2027.
Aveiro is also where the 2022 France-Portugal Season – a year-long cross-cultural celebration – comes to a close, having begun in Rouen with a fado concert at the Chapelle Corneille. The end-of-season concert in Aveiro will feature three young people from Rouen: trumpeter Anselme Loue, cellist Lily Causse and clarinetist Florent Teixeira (photo).
In another expression of this collaboration, Norman poetess Mélanie Leblanc, a well-known supporter of the Rouen Seine Normande European Capital of Culture 2028 bid, was invited to the Aveiro book fair.
These cultural interactions are early displays of a relationship made closer still by a memorandum jointly signed by Rouen’s mayor, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, and his Aveiro counterpart, José Ribau Esteves (photo) when they met in the Portuguese city on 15 October 2022.
The document sets out the framework for increased dialogue and cooperation between the two cities, most especially as part of the Rouen Seine Normande 2028 bid for the title of European Capital of Culture. It explicitly cites Aveiro’s support for Rouen Seine Normande 2028, European Capital of Culture.
A similar memorandum was signed with Hanover, Germany, on 12 October 2022, formalizing the work begun with the European cities supportive of the Rouen Seine Normande 2028 bid.
