In the first phase there are 29 candidate cities or group of cities: Annecy, Villeurbanne, Montélimar, Brest, Châteaugiron, Bourges, Vierzon, Colmar, Metz, Vitry, Grand Sud Caraïbe, Roubaix, Kremlin-Bicêtre, Val Briard, Versailles, Le Lamentin, Angoulême, Gujan-Mestras, Pau, Hérault Méditerranée, Sète, Saint-Paul, Laval, Le Mans, Aix-en-Provence, Antibes Juan-les-Pins, Cannes, Istres, Pays d’Apt Luberon.

All of these applications will be reviewed by a national jury appointed by the Minister of Culture. As a first step, it will carry out a preselection of projects in which the regional cultural affairs departments and the overseas cultural affairs depart, ents are closely associated. The result of this preselection will be known in February 2021. The capital will be announced in December 2021.