Milton Keynes hoping to celebrate 10th anniversary of #LoveMK Day with city status

Milton Keynes is planning its biggest ever #LoveMK Day.

It is hoped that the celebrations can be crowned with City status being bestowed on the Buckinghamshire town by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

Every April 28th, Destination Milton Keynes, the official tourism service for the town, runs the celebration of all things MK. With this year marking the 10th anniversary of the social media-focused event, DMK are looking to make the festivities bigger than ever before.

It's always been about growth. Each year, locals are encouraged to log into their social media accounts and help promote just why the fast-growing settlement is a great place to live. In doing so, it's hoped that Milton Keynes is shown to be an ever-improving destination for retail, leisure and business.

This year's online celebrations will centre around the last ten years of #LoveMK Day, with some of the best content from the past decade being shared again.

Carys Underwood, marketing manager at Destination Milton Keynes said this about the initiative: “The idea for #LoveMK Day started in a very small way 10 years ago; it came from seeing how much the people who live and work here love their city, and we wanted to focus that energy into one day, where you can shout about it from the rooftops and show off why MK is such a fantastic place."

Pride in the place will be at an all-time high this year if the town becomes a city. In December of last year, a bid was submitted for formal city status to be granted as part of Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. It's MK's fourth bid, but this time everyone involved is optimistic.

If successful, Milton Keynes will become Buckinghamshire's only city. Although Aylesbury would remain the 'county town'.

MK will join the likes of Bournemouth, Reading, Dorchester, Medway and Crawley, Colchester and Guildford in hoping to be granted city status in 2022.

Why become a city, though? Well, there are no financial perks. Not directly, anyway. The kudos and buzz created by the award could help grow the profile of the place, though. Which may lead to future investment and development.

According to the UK Cabinet Office, being awarded city status provides a noticeable boost to local communities in all sorts of ways and can open up new opportunities for local residents.

As part of the bidding process, towns applying for the boost were asked to discuss their unique identity and community, as well as provide demonstrable evidence of the town's links to all things royal.

Unlike previous awards, this year will see an expert panel make their recommendations to ministers. As ever, though, all bids are ultimately approved or denied by The Queen. With the final decisions due to be made and announced at the end of spring of this year.

You can read Milton Keynes' full application for city status here.

And to discover more about Destination Milton Keynes and what they do - or find out more about #LoveMK Day - you can look them up on social media (@DestinationMK) or head to their website over at www.destinationmiltonkeynes.co.uk.

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