The announcement was made by the president of the evaluation panel, Rossella Tarantino, who made it clear from her words that it was not an easy choice.

“Our decision was not an easy one. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it was extremely difficult. I can assure you that the debate between us was intense and profound, because the level of quality of the bids from the 4 cities was exceptionally high”, said Tarantino.

The jury consisted of 10 independent experts appointed by the European institutions and 2 national experts chosen by the Ministry of Culture. Nine different European countries were represented on the panel, which is perhaps one of the reasons why there were so many different points of view in the discussion.

Evidently, therefore, it was not a unanimous decision, but the majority of the judges won. The difficulty is understandable given that the other three short-listed cities, Clermont-Ferrand, Montpellier and Rouen, have also worked hard to realise a programme with a European dimension and with the full involvement of the local community. The hope is that all this work will not be lost and that the three cities will still be able to realise the announced projects.

Then, after her introduction, Ms Tarantino revealed the name of the winning city written on a special page of paper. "I had kept this handmade paper from the Musee officine in Capellades, which I worked with a long time ago, for a special occasion. And I think this announcement is really precious".

Strange how fate can sometimes casually unite stories and experiences. The name of the winning city was announced by Rossella Tarantino, the soul, together with another cultural manager Paolo Verri, of the whole project of Matera (Italy), European Capital of Culture in 2019. Matera was shortlisted along with five other cities, including Siena, which had a cultural manager of the calibre of Pierluigi Sacco as director of the candidature. On 17th october 2014 Matera won, Siena lost. Today, in France, Bourges won. President of the Bourges 2028 association is the Italian PierLuigi Sacco. A twist of fate. He writes it himself, in very beautiful words, in a post on Facebook.

"We have won. Bourges is the European Capital of Culture 2028. When my great friend Pascal Kaiser proposed me to chair the candidacy project, I confess that at the time my first reaction was 'No. I can't do it all over again'. The memory of that 17 October 2014 was still too painful, and since then I have been involved in so many ECoC candidature tracks, and sometimes it went well and sometimes badly, but always as a technician, carefully avoiding excessive emotional involvement. But this time it was different, this time it was, once again, a project to live and be personally involved in. Why did I accept in the end? Because the invitation came from a true friend, who had been by my side throughout the Siena journey and especially afterwards, and because the project was beautiful. And so I took a risk. I put myself on the line again, accepting the possibility of having to do it all over again. But this time we won, and I am sure that Bourges will be a memorable European Capital of Culture".

Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culture, welcomes the choice of the jury and warmly congratulates the city of Bourges and all the teams who gathered around the project «Territory of the future». For the Minister, «choosing Bourges is to accompany the bet of a medium-sized city that relies on culture for its human, social and economic development and which aims to make a real place for all audiences». By being European Capital of Culture in 2028, Bourges wishes to become a laboratory of territories combining culture, inclusion and ecology.

The Minister also wishes to salute the quality of the applications submitted and the projects proposed by the other three finalist cities, Clermont-Ferrand, Montpellier and Rouen. For the Minister, “the extraordinary commitment of all their teams and the inhabitants involved in the applications and the enthusiasm of the citizens for these projects testify once again to the strength of culture to federate around common and European values. This momentum and momentum will remain.”.

Pascal Keiser, Bourges 2028 general commissioner: "We're a very small team, and we've put together a project that's innovative, motivating, but very difficult to defend... So I'm proud that the jury listened to us! As of tomorrow, we'll be working on a ten-year plan, up to 2035, which is part of the specifications. That's why all this is so fabulous, for the people of Bourges of course, but also far beyond their town, for the whole Region, our partners, and above all the artists, in Bourges and everywhere else where they believed in us!”.

The city of Bourges will be European capital of culture after Marseille-Provence (2013), Lille (2004), Avignon (2000) and Paris (1989) in France.