EXCLUSIVE: Bradford has been invited by the Government to plan a nationwide Festival of Culture in 2008.

Capital of Culture team director Paul Brookes has been contracted by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on behalf of all the other cities which bidded for the European Capital of Culture 2008 title.

The 'Festival of Britain' would unite all 12 cities, with cultural events taking place in each one, as well as in the city that wins the overall 2008 title. Lord Puttnam, chairman of Bradford's Capital of Culture partnership board, has been asked to chair the national festival.

Mr Brookes must submit a draft business plan to Culture Minister Tessa Jowell by March and the DCMS will then decide whether to go ahead with it.

"The idea is to pull tourists in by creating a cultural network of all 12 bidding cities," said Mr Brookes.

"The major focus will be on the winning city but people will also be encouraged to visit the others.

"The bidding cities have a wide geographical spread, across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and offer different experiences of visiting Britain.

"Bradford, Norwich, Belfast and Brighton, for example, are all very different places.

"The DCMS hopes other UK cities will be inspired by the festival to develop cultural projects as tools for regeneration."

Yesterday Mr Brookes met representatives from the six non-shortlisted cities to discuss the proposed "12 Cities" festival.

And on February 13 he will travel to London with Bradford Council chief executive Ian Stewart and chairman of Bradford 2008 executive, Sir Michael Bichard, to meet Tessa Jowell to discuss the plans.

"It's in the discussion stage at the moment. I will consult all the other bidding cities, English Heritage, the British Tourist Authority, the Arts Council, Sport England, the Film Council, and Resource, the agency for museums and libraries."

Mr Brookes said that while the winning city would deliver a year-long programme of events, the others could each deliver a month-long programme, with a different month for each city.

He said the fact that Bradford has been chosen to draw up the proposals "was a sign of recognition that Bradford's bid was well respected by all the other bidding cities.

"All the bidding cities were surprised when Bradford didn't make the 2008 shortlist. And the fact that our team held an event in Glasgow for all the bid teams to meet up, and hosted three major cultural conferences in Bradford, shows our history of co-ordinating national events.

"The thinking is that all 12 cities put so much energy into their bids, surpassing DCMS expectations, and now we need to sustain that momentum.

"Working towards a major 2008 project gives all 12 cities a common focus."

The 12 bidding cities were Bradford, Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Canterbury, Cardiff, Inverness, Liverpool, Newcastle, Norwich, and Oxford.

Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool, Newcastle and Oxford won through to the shortlist of six from which the winner will be selected, probably in June.

Mr Brookes said that since the shortlist was announced his bid team had been inundated with letters of support from across Britain, including the other cities, saying that Bradford deserved to be included.

He said the other cities had been impressed with the "imagination and ambition of Bradford's Capital of Culture campaign", which included organising high-profile events like the Bradford Festival and the London Embassy which took the bid to the capital and made headlines around the world.

"Being approached by the DCMS is a boost and shows that other cities have faith in us," said Mr Brookes.

"They were impressed with the imagination, fun and power of our bid.

"It put Bradford on the map, highlighting the north/south divide, and the challenges Bradford has to face."