We've Made It Happen: Our City Of Culture 2013

A message from the editor on the final night of a momentous year for Derry-Londonderry

My fellow City-Of-Culturistas...

This is the 92nd time I'm going to be posting to you from this website in 2013, and the last. The end of this Legenderry year, as we've liked to call it, is almost upon us. It has been a pleasure, a privilege, and a downright honour to be one of your "correspondents" in writing and photography in this city, this year. Many of you have spoken to me and said, "well done", but I could say as much to you, if not more. But before the year ends, I'd like to share some thoughts with all of you in relation to this lovely city we live in.

I can still recall when, as a slightly younger man who didn't quite know where his career was going, I first heard when Derry-Londonderry was up for this inaugural cultural honour. It was there when I realised, like no doubt many of you did at the time, that I could make a difference, and passions for both writing and photography that I once thought were on the verge of dying were reawakened.

We won the honour. We had our moment. And now, two and a half years later, the city's cultural landscape shines strong and tall in a Silver City Risen from darkness to light. A new vision and a new legacy, created by the fittingly titled Sons And Daughters of Derry-Londonderry, so many of whom swept us up in a tidal wave of musical glory near the start of this remarkable year.

That, of course, was only the beginning of a series of standout events that defined Derry-Londonderry, so good they named it twice, as a thriving arts and cultural landscape. But it was, and is, more than that, of course.

When watching Finding Nemo for what seemed like the umpteenth time recently, seven words in the screenplay truly resonated with me: "When I see you, I see home." Seven words that are worth a thousand in the context of Derry-Londonderry, for it might not have been, and still might not be, the best place in the world to everyone, but it is our place. We created it. We are in tune with absolutely everything about it: people, landscapes, landmarks and opportunities.

And to my pleasant surprise, that was exactly how Derry-Londonderry felt to just about every tourist and traveller I’ve met on my travels around the city throughout 2013. We are a City Of Culture, but we are also a City Of Community and Great Company.

During these last twelve months, I've made it my aim, in some way or another, to both develop as a cultural writer and bring you the best from the City Of Culture 2013. Last year, Si's Sights And Sounds was born, and continues to thrive today. But it never belonged to me. It belonged to you, the people who provided me with the material to write about. I spread the word, but you made the words. I was just the messenger, someone who was lucky enough to be in the right places at the right times. The real heroes of Derry-Londonderry 2013 are the people as a whole, the technicians, artists, actors, directors, writers, photographers, musicians, spectators and so on who made it happen, men and women who relayed a continuous cavalcade of sights and sounds to a global audience. Without the people, the cultural "delights" we praised would not have had the heart and soul that they undeniably did.

No doubt, you will ask me if I have regrets, and I do. The economy is one of them. As much as Derry-Londonderry has flourished on the surface, there is the clear and present fear that the city is, in reality, dancing on a volcano, and that the lack of job opportunities may force many of our great talents, be they newly found or established, to look elsewhere. Tonight is no night for dwelling on that, but another significant matter ought to be addressed: what will we do now our year in the spotlight is over?

With that in mind, I refer to what was done with the famous Crystal Palace after the Great Exhibition of 1851: remove the building blocks of a short-term success and relay it for the long term. Even with both Ebrington's Venue and the Turner Prize Exhibition on their way down and out, respectively, there remains the chance to cement the whole of Derry-Londonderry as a cultural city by the people, for the people. Because that is what it should be, if it isn't already. Our newly found momentum must be carried well into the future, for there remains the danger of living in the moment and not considering the long-term consequences. Even if a feeling of "could do better" exists in the Derry-Londonderry air, what also exists is a genuinely warm, winning and welcoming spirit that will surely endure.

It has also been asked that, as big as a certain Big Weekend was, was there really a need for it? And the answer, in my view, is a resounding Yes. Not everyone was fortunate enough to live the experience at the Prehen Playing Fields nearly a decade ago, and this truly was Big. Even the music, to me, was almost irrelevant; what we saw during those nights were unprecedented levels of confidence, light and unity spreading around the city. All may not really be hunky dory in this current climate, but for the audience on those days, all was. They wanted big moments, and we delivered. Sons and Daughters. The spectacular Political Mother. CHIC, so good he came twice. The Fabulous Fleadh. Music City, especially the Sky Orchestra. The inaugural Walled City Tattoo. The Return Of Colmcille. Lumiere. And many more. Events that told the tale of a city both in touch with what made it what it is, and the wider artistic world.

Even something as simple as a tweet or a Facebook status update could reach out and touch thousands, millions even. My own City Of Culture status updates were inspired by legendary American actor Stan Freberg, but who, or what, inspired you? You may have found such things as the cobblestones on London Street, and the views from the walls, as inspirational as anything you could read. That's a cultural strength for you; inspirations, assets, success, from the least likely of places. And there have been many of those.

It's been a year of contrasts, a year of history. And one night, as I looked across the River Foyle at the illuminated STITCH IN TIME sign, an endeavour of industrial light and magic that stands proud and tall over everything around it, I found it hard not to contrast the numerous aspects of the city. The big and the small, the past and the future, the understated and the grand.  It is not merely, as Ronald Reagan put it, a "shining city upon a hill", but a city at sixes and sevens, as skilfully illustrated on one memorable summer night at The Guildhall.

A Stitch In Time may symbolise several of the things in this city, be they factories, craft or camaraderie. But we must not allow this year to remain a mere stitch in time, a footnote to be cast away into the forgotten annals of history. Better, instead, to think of what At Sixes And Sevens, and indeed every single cultural endeavour in 2013 illustrated: we have made history, and we have history, still, to make.

There isn't one aspect of this city that I take for granted today, from the wide open space in Ebrington Square, to the numerous art galleries, to the walls, to venues both indoor and open air, to the spectacular foot and cycle bridge that has symbolised our city for more than two years. We've made it happen. We, the sons and daughters of Derry-Londonderry, have made the city what it is.

And here's to carrying our spirit and soulfulness through to 2014 and beyond.

Happy New Year to all of you.