The cultural aspirations of many thousands of people are represented in Birmingham�s bid, on behalf of the West Midlands, to be named European Capital of Culture in 2008.

High-profile organisations, community groups and individuals have helped put together a bid with more than 600 projects - reaching into every corner of the region and its cultural life. They include landmark and permanent projects, new festivals and art-works, and special 2008 editions of established events.

Birmingham is already the UK�s third most popular visitor destination, after London and Edinburgh. For the festival year of 2008 it would aim to beat the 89 per cent tourism boost achieved by Glasgow when it was European City of Culture in 1990.

"The incredibly rich and diverse culture of the West Midlands will be celebrated and expanded in all kinds of ways. This is a big prize and we intend to win," says bid director Stephen Hetherington.

Part of the permanent legacy of 2008, a new venue called The Shrine would be a place for contemplation and world music - where Islamic music is followed by Christian plainsong, and Indian ragas follow steel bands and rap - or it could be a place where anyone can explore their own inner thoughts and their own choice of musical style.

At it�s heart, the new Library for Birmingham which would be the home of major new literary awards, has already attracted the interest of the world�s top architects. There will be a new base for Birmingham Conservatoire, a languages academy and the city�s first major new park for more than a century.

The city�s major established arts organisations are all enthusiastically backing the bid with ambitious plans for 2008. Birmingham Royal Ballet is to work on a collaboration with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra to perform all of Stravinsky�s dance works. The spirit of the Birmingham Triennial Festival, internationally-acclaimed in the 19^th century for commissioning new works by Mendelssohn and Elgar, would be restored to create a series of contemporary works. SAMPAD South Asian Arts will commission a major new opera work and a Bollywood figure is planning a collaboration with the CBSO on Indian film music.

The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced plans to redevelop its Stratford-on-Avon base with new theatres to open in 2008 and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre will stage a Year of New Writing where every production will be a world premiere.

In visual arts, the Ikon gallery is planning to show the later works of Monet and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts intends to mount the first ever exhibition of portraits by Rubens.

Birmingham has helped set up an international network for city lighting and, building on long-established links with Lyon, would stage an International Festival of Light also involving Turin, St Petersburg and Ho Chi Minh City.

The Villes et M�tiers d�Art international craft network would create a number of new opportunities. Birmingham�s Jewellery Quarter would have a National Gallery of Jewellery and international design competition and there are plans for a new Glass Museum in Dudley.

The Birmingham bid contains plans by different organisations for new centres to promote a variety of musical traditions. They include a National Asian Music Centre, Centre for Jewish Music and a National Academy for Gospel Music as well as a new home for the Royal College of Organists in Eastside.

A Festival of World Music is planned for Birmingham in 2008 and related events have been added to the bid by Warwick Arts Centre and the Drum. Early music projects include a choral pilgrimage in the region�s cathedrals performed by Ex Cathedra and a festival in rural churches and other locations organised by Warwick Arts Society.

Birmingham�s sporting heritage and the number of successfully-staged international championships features strongly in the European Capital of Culture bid. Annual highlights such as international athletics, cricket and tennis would all be boosted during 2008 and the city plans to stage a Festival of European Sports. Different countries would be invited to share their native sporting traditions, such as p�tanque, hurling and korfball, with others in the tournament.

A project put forward by the Birmingham Council of Faiths would develop a series of �pulpit exchanges� to allow different congregations to experience teachings and perspectives from other faiths. This is based on a successful model from Rotterdam and would also involve a conference to promote greater understanding.

The European Capital of Culture programme would lead to new performance and exhibition spaces being created around the city and region - some temporary, some permanent. They include the re-opening of the historic Birmingham Town Hall, new public spaces, redevelopment of the mac arts centre and, for example, a new �3m venue for Bewdley Festival. There would also be a new venue in cyberspace, with a virtual festival accessible across the globe using the digital resources at the Birmingham Needle.

Birmingham�s highly-acclaimed Arts Fest will be extended in 2008 to four weekends of free events in four regional locations, with an emphasis on international works and live links with the UK Centres of Culture. The annual Arts Fest is already the UK�s largest concentration of free events attended by more than 100,000 people. In the run up to 2008 it will be used as a showcase of what�s to come and in 2006/7 will be used to launch the Capital of Culture Artscard season ticket scheme and the Capital of Culture Passport for weekly and weekend visitors.