Cheltenham / Göttingen 70th Anniversary Photo Competition ‘Celebrating My Town’

The joint photo competition celebrates our towns, and shows how close the friendships between Cheltenham and Göttingen have become over the years. Cheltenham and Göttingen have been twin towns since 1951, during this time there have been many opportunities to experience the life and culture of the twin town through visits and exchanges and close friendships have been made.

Participants can submit up to two photographs, in either colour or monochrome, that relate to the theme of ‘Celebrating My Town’. The photographs should highlight a special image of Cheltenham – friendships, its people, architecture, environment, culture or entertainment, to show an aspect of Cheltenham to the people of Göttingen. Göttingen Town Council are holding a similar competition. There will be a cash prize of £100 for the first place prize winner, £75 for the second place prize winner and £50 for the third place prize winner. There will also be three highly commended certificates awarded. The competition opens on Sunday 14 November 2021 and runs until Sunday 12 December 2021.

Cllr Diggory Seacome, Chair of Cheltenham Twinning Association, said “We are very excited to be holding this photographic competition in conjunction with our friends in Göttingen, to celebrate 70 years of Twinning (albeit one year late due to Covid!). I am very much looking forward to seeing unusual photographs submitted, as well as more conventional ones, but all celebrating ‘Cheltenham – My Town’. Next year, our photographs, along with those taken by our German friends, will form an attractive exhibition for all to see, both here and in Göttingen, so I would encourage everyone to get out and start ‘getting the picture’, as the cut off date is not so far away, and who knows, you might be in line for a prize.”

Cllr Victoria Atherstone, Cabinet Member for Culture, Wellbeing and Business, said “It is such a brilliant idea to hold a photographic competition to celebrate our 70th anniversary with our twin town Göttingen in Germany. This is going to be an exciting opportunity for anyone who’s feeling creative and fancies taking photos of their favourite things in Cheltenham be that buildings, parks, artwork, landscapes, trees, bridges, friends and family, entertainment activities etc. There are so many wonderful aspects of Cheltenham to appreciate and pictorially document. So for anyone that loves living, working, studying or visiting Cheltenham, it’s time to get your camera or smartphone out and get snapping!

“Remember you can submit two photographs each making it that much easier if you can’t decide on your winning shot. Good luck to all participants and remember to submit your entries by Sunday 12th December.”

A panel of judges will select 35 Cheltenham photographs and Göttingen will also select 35 images totalling 70 photos, representing every year of the twinning link. The selected photographs will be displayed on the Cheltenham Twinning Association and Göttingen Town Council websites in the New Year and printed for display in each of the towns in Summer 2022. 

The competition is open to everyone, with the exception of professional photographers and those organising the competition and judging. Photographs can be submitted from Sunday 14 November 2021 to Sunday 12 December 2021 and should be uploaded onto the entry system, photocomp.uk.

For further details and terms and conditions visit Cheltenham Twinning Association website.

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