With celebrations and hugs, Larnaca was recently declared the European Capital of Culture for 2030.

The award of the title puts an end to the agony of two cities and their delegations that participated in the process.

The announcement was made by the President of the 12-member Committee of Experts Anthony Attard, director of strategy at Arts Council Malta.

Larnaca won by submitting the final file with the theme and slogan "Commmon Ground", which proposes the vision for a new form of coexistence, based on humanity and democracy in art and culture.

Read here  https://online.flippingbook.com/view/943422481/  the program of Larnaca, as submitted in the file.

In an interview with "F" a few weeks ago, the artistic director of Larnaca 2030 Kelly Diapouli pointed out that "Common Ground" refers to both intellectual and digital places and mentalities.

The Committee of Experts completed its on-site visits to the two cities, on Monday in Larnaca and on Tuesday in Limassol, while on Wednesday the ten-member delegations of the two cities presented their vision in detail. The members of the 12-member committee had received the final files of the two candidate cities a month ago. Larnaca and Limassol were selected in the shortlist of the most prevalent candidate cities of Cyprus last February.

The European Commission awards each European Capital of Culture with the €1.5 million Melina Mercouri Prize, funded under the Creative Europe programme, in recognition of the quality of the preparatory process.