Swiss Capital of Culture 2030
The City of Lugano, with the support of Locarno and Mendrisio, is applying to become the national focal point for Swiss culture for one year. In 2027, the first capital will be La Chaux-de-Fonds, as a pilot project.
Lugano is a city that combines creativity, innovation and quality of life and therefore intends to apply for Swiss Capital of Culture 2030, with an open, shared project that involves local institutions, cultural organisations, communities and businesses across the region. The City Council, coordinated by the Divisione cultura (Culture Division), is currently preparing the application dossier, which will be submitted with the support and collaboration of the Cities of Locarno and Mendrisio.
What is the Swiss Capital of Culture
The title of Swiss Capital of Culture will be awarded to a city with at least 20,000 inhabitants, ideally alternating between the four language regions. For one year, a city or a region becomes the cultural heart of the country. It is a nationwide event designed to bring people together, during which artists and people from across Switzerland can meet, exchange ideas and foster diversity.
The Swiss Capital of Culture Association was founded in 2020 on the initiative of Daniel Rossellat (president of the Paléo Festival Nyon and former events director of Expo 0.2). Following the model of the European Capitals of Culture, the intention is to designate a Swiss Capital of Culture every three years, with the aim of involving the Swiss population in cultural life, encouraging creativity and exchange. The first Capital will be La Chaux-de-Fonds in 2027, as a pilot project.
A contribution to Lugano’s strategic objectives
Given the strategic development guidelines and the major projects that will be completed by 2030 – such as the Sports and Events Centre, the City of Music or the Besso intermodal hub, to name only the main ones – Lugano’s City Council has deemed that applying for Swiss Capital of Culture could make an important contribution, focusing the efforts of the coming years on a common goal. A nationwide milestone that would create a unique development opportunity, optimising and enhancing the two principal facets of culture: the sustained support for institutional culture and the ideas emerging from the population, particularly from the cultural and creative industries, as well as from independent cultural production.
Collaboration with Locarno and Mendrisio
But Lugano did not want to face this complex challenge on its own; instead, it chose to share it with the City of Locarno and the City of Mendrisio, both of which are strongly committed not only to enhancing historical and artistic heritage, but also to contemporary culture as a driver of present-day development. The three cities aim to establish themselves as a hub of contemporary culture in Switzerland, capable of proposing a dynamic image of the region that can sit alongside its traditional features (safety, discretion, closeness to nature, Mediterranean climate, hospitality). This would make it possible to bring to the centre of the Swiss cultural debate an original perspective from the south, one that highlights the border role and the function as a geographical, linguistic and cultural crossroads that characterises Italian-speaking Switzerland.
The questionnaire for artists, institutions and citizens
After the letter of intent was sent in March 2025, the preparation of the application dossier is under way, to be completed by the end of the year. Between October and early November 2025, the City published online questionnaires to gather ideas, observations and proposals to enrich Lugano’s application, from citizens, artists, professionals in the field, amateur organisations, cultural and academic institutions, public bodies and businesses.
Next steps
The application process will continue in 2026 with a jury visit in March and the selection of the winning city in June. The joint project by Lugano, Locarno and Mendrisio is not the only one in Italian-speaking Switzerland, as Bellinzona has announced its own candidacy. For German-speaking Switzerland, Aarau, Schaffhausen, Thun and Zug are in the running.
The cities’ applications are evaluated by a jury composed of 10 experts from the fields of culture, the economy and the media.
The Swiss Capital of Culture Association will evaluate the projects of the various cities according to the following objectives to be achieved:
- a transformative project is required with local roots, but national in scope, through an original theme and a long-term vision, going beyond the existing offer and integrating culture, education, tourism and planning, with qualitative objectives and measurable impact indicators
- the cultural programme must be founded on a clear vision that brings together quality, diversity and innovation, involves local artists and offers events for different audiences
- The project must be inclusive and accessible, supported politically at all levels, involve citizens, schools and disadvantaged groups, and will be implemented thanks to adequate infrastructure and an operational team integrated with the city departments
- Cultural and linguistic uniqueness (investments to activate a new tourism- and culture-based economic development model)
- Presence of centres of research, start-ups and as many as three academic institutions well connected internationally (for example the Swissnex network)
- Central position on the north/south axis easily reachable thanks to a state-of-the-art rail network
- Profiles professional of high quality
- Italian-speaking border region with Italy (numerous active collaborations also in the cultural field)
- A privileged landscape setting
- A City and a region attractive (political stability and geographic location)
- Widespread well-being and longevity of the population
- Consolidate the institutional cultural trajectory launched in 2015 with the creation of the cultural hub (Lugano Arte e Cultura, Museo d'arte della Svizzera italiana, Fondazione culture e musei), which has positioned Lugano nationally and internationally
- Support culture-based development, generating well-being and new opportunities through the arts and the cultural and creative industries, including for cultural tourism and new entrepreneurship
- Develop sustainability and social innovation through the arts and culture
- Strengthen networks and collaborations with Swiss cities, universities, research centres and innovative enterprises, and enhance the identity «from the south» and national cohesion
- Support cultural professionals and the cultural and creative industries by creating more favourable framework conditions thanks to an overall project
- Promote creativity, innovation and participation in culture among citizens and the new generations
Decentralisation, collaboration, complementarity:
- three «from the south» visions capable of enriching and contributing to the challenges of today's Switzerland
- three border cities in dialogue with the Insubric region
- three lakeside cities: water as a means of communication and transport
- three cities that make education and research a priority
- common foundations at the geographical, historical, cultural and economic levels
- increase the critical mass to attract innovation, creativity and investment
- move beyond a dimension of self-sufficiency and self-referentiality
Objective: broaden geographical and mental horizons to overcome parochialism, creating a testing ground for new possibilities of interaction
The English version of this page was created with the aid of automatic translation tools and may contain errors and omissions.
The original version is the page in Italian.