What a City Showcase Looks Like
Essaouira
- ◆World Music Capital — Gnawa and Blues Festival heritage
- ◆UNESCO World Heritage medina and ramparts
- ◆Atlantic coast gastronomy and fishing industry
- ◆Artisan craft exports — argan oil, thuya wood, leather
- ◆Cultural tourism investment opportunities
- ◆Diaspora engagement through Passport to the World
Diamantina, Minas Gerais
- ◆UNESCO World Heritage baroque architecture
- ◆Specialty coffee and artisan cheese export opportunities
- ◆Cultural heritage tourism investment
- ◆Education exchange with leading universities
- ◆Sustainable eco-tourism in Espinhaço range
- ◆Brazilian diaspora economic engagement through Passport to the World
How the City Showcase Competition Works
National Selection Launch
Each participating nation opens a national selection process. Candidate cities submit interest and a showcase concept. Tourism boards, chambers, and cultural organizations may nominate cities.
City Application
Candidate cities complete a structured application covering government commitment, tourism readiness, pavilion concept, parade concept, business plan, cultural program, and diaspora engagement strategy.
Public Voting
Public Voting opens to demonstrate national, diaspora, and international enthusiasm. Final recognition remains subject to qualification review and official national approval.
City Readiness Review
A structured Readiness Review evaluates candidates across culture, tourism, business, education, diaspora, government support, pavilion readiness, Country Star availability, around-the-world travel-prize coordination, and Passport to the World activation capacity.
Official Selection
The national government, ministry, or authorized body selects one city to represent the nation in the International Cultures Celebration in New York City.
Showcase Preparation
The selected city activates Passport to the World locally, organizes its City Cultures Celebration, and prepares its NYC pavilion, parade float, cultural program, business engagement, and media strategy.
2027 Launch & 2028+ Annual Schedule
The Celebration is prepared more than one year in advance. The 2028 cycle is the first example.
More than 14 months of preparation. This gives selected cities time to activate Passport to the World, mobilize S.E.E.D. Member Organizations, secure sponsors, engage merchants, confirm Country Star participation, coordinate two around-the-world travel tickets as prizes, build media campaigns, and prepare their NYC pavilion, float, performances, tourism programs, business meetings, and educational exchanges.
Realistic Benefits for Participating Cities
Tourism
Turn curiosity into travel interest.
- ✓Destination visibility in NYC
- ✓Tourism leads from traveler participants
- ✓Media content for future campaigns
- ✓Diaspora-driven travel interest
- ✓Post-event tourism follow-up records
Trade & Business
Open the doors that change cities.
- ✓B2B meetings with importers, investors, distributors, and buyers
- ✓Chamber of Commerce bilateral engagement
- ✓Business booths inside national pavilions
- ✓Investment presentations to diaspora and U.S. partners
- ✓Post-event business follow-up through Passport to the World records
Education
Turn cultural visibility into educational relationships.
- ✓Student exchange and scholarship visibility
- ✓University-to-university partnerships
- ✓Curriculum and research collaborations
- ✓Education ministry engagement and interests
- ✓Youth programs and academic outreach
Cultural Diplomacy
Let your city tell its story with dignity.
- ✓Present heritage, values, creativity, and identity
- ✓Performing arts and cuisine on a serious stage
- ✓International media visibility for heritage brands
- ✓Cultural documentation and archive
- ✓Respectful dialogue and international connection
Diaspora Engagement
Bring your people back into your city's future.
- ✓Reconnect diaspora in NYC and beyond
- ✓Investment pitch to diaspora investors
- ✓Cultural pride and national identity reinforcement
- ✓Mentor, sponsor, visit, promote networks
- ✓S.E.E.D. organization activation
Passport to the World
Convert attention into action.
- ✓Pavilion participation records
- ✓Sponsor and merchant engagement data
- ✓Tourism, education, and business interests
- ✓Around-the-world travel-prize promotion
- ✓Post-event opportunity record
A Cultural Diplomacy & Media Requirement
Each selected city is expected to secure or bring a recognized Country Star — a respected artist, performer, cultural figure, athlete, chef, creator, intellectual, or public personality — to help promote the city and nation's participation, appear during NYC Celebration week, participate in the International Cultures–Immigrants Parade, and promote Passport to the World.
This is not only entertainment. It is a strategic media, tourism, cultural-diplomacy, sponsorship, and public-engagement requirement for the selected city's NYC participation.
Media Promotion
Promote the selected city's and nation's participation through mainstream, ethnic, and social media channels.
Passport to the World
Promote Passport to the World as your city's cultural travel invitation to the world — encouraging traveler participants worldwide.
NYC Celebration Week
Participate in NYC Celebration week activities, pavilion activations, and media moments.
International Cultures–Immigrants Parade
Appear in or open the Parade on the Avenue of the Americas during the NYC Celebration.
Pavilion & Cultural Presentation
Support the city's national pavilion, cultural showcase, or performance program.
Media Attention
Generate national and international media attention for the city, nation, and Celebration.
Public Voting Excitement
Strengthen public excitement, civic pride, and Public Voting participation in the home country.
Tourism, Diaspora & Sponsorship
Encourage tourism interest, cultural exchange, diaspora engagement, and sponsor alignment.
Local Celebration Visibility
Help the city's local and national Cultures Celebration gain visibility before arriving in NYC.
A Country Star may be drawn from any field of national or international recognition — music, film, sports, cuisine, culture, fashion, education, media, literature, design, science, business, faith, or other public life. What matters is that the individual can credibly help represent the city and nation, generate media attention, and excite the public, the diaspora, and sponsors. Local, national, and international levels of recognition are all eligible, with international recognition carrying the highest media value.
Give Visitors a Reason to Travel the World.
As part of National City Showcase participation, each Nation's Representing City provides two around-the-world travel tickets as prizes (or equivalent international travel-experience awards) for certified Passport to the World traveler participants who complete qualifying pavilion visits. This creates excitement for visitors, increases participation at national pavilions, and gives the Nation's Representing City a powerful promotional tool.
This creates excitement for visitors, increases participation at national pavilions, gives cities a powerful promotional tool, and turns Passport to the World pavilion visits into something visitors actively want to complete.
Cities may fulfill this through tourism boards, airlines, sponsors, hotels, tour operators, travel agencies, chambers of commerce, or national partners. The two around-the-world travel tickets are part of National City Showcase participation.
Tourism boards can co-sponsor travel prizes featuring their destination.
Airline carriers can contribute round-the-world tickets or upgrades.
Sponsors can attach travel prizes to their pavilion or Country Star activation.
Hotel chains and tour operators can contribute experiences or stays.
For Ambassadors, Permanent Missions to the United Nations, Consuls General in New York City, Cultural Attachés, Business Attachés, Commercial Attachés, Tourism Attachés, Trade Commissioners, Economic Development Officers, tourism boards, chambers of commerce, cultural institutes, and national representatives in New York City, the International Cultures Celebration provides a structured platform for cultural diplomacy, national pavilion participation, diaspora engagement, tourism and trade promotion, and measurable public participation. The 2027 Founding City Showcase Grant waives the $100,000 participation fee for qualifying cities.
City Showcase Competition — Frequently Asked Questions
What is the City Showcase Competition?
The City Showcase Competition is the annual selection process by which each participating nation chooses one city to represent it on the New York City stage during the International Cultures Celebration. Cities present tourism, culture, trade, education, and diaspora engagement through a shared international cultural-diplomacy ecosystem activated by Passport to the World.
How much does it cost to participate in 2027?
For qualifying selected cities in 2027: FREE through the 2027 Founding City Showcase Grant. The grant waives the standard $100,000 City Showcase participation fee for one winning city per participating nation, provided the country has three or more qualified city candidates by September 15, 2026. The standard $100,000 participation fee begins in 2028. Cities are free to present what they believe the world should know about them, without censorship, while respecting diplomatic, legal, safety, and event participation standards.
When is the application deadline?
The 2027 City Showcase application deadline is September 15, 2026. Winning cities are announced September 21, 2026. The preparation window runs from September 21, 2026 through June 5, 2027. From the 2028 Celebration and every year after, the competition opens January 1 and closes March 30, with winning cities announced April 7 — more than 14 months of preparation.
Does the selected city need to bring a celebrity?
Yes. Each selected city is expected to secure or bring a recognized Country Star — a respected artist, performer, cultural figure, athlete, chef, creator, intellectual, or public personality — to help promote the city and nation's participation, appear during NYC Celebration week, participate in the International Cultures–Immigrants Parade, and promote Passport to the World.
What about around-the-world travel prizes?
As part of National City Showcase participation, each Nation's Representing City provides two around-the-world travel tickets as prizes for certified Passport to the World traveler participants who complete qualifying pavilion visits. This creates excitement for visitors, increases participation at national pavilions, and gives the Nation's Representing City a powerful promotional tool. Cities may fulfill this through tourism boards, airlines, sponsors, hotels, tour operators, travel agencies, chambers of commerce, or national partners.
What is Passport to the World and how does it relate to the City Showcase?
Passport to the World is your cultural travel experience and the economic engine of the International Cultures Celebration. For selected cities, it converts NYC pavilion attendance into measurable engagement, sponsor reporting, tourism interest, and post-event follow-up data — creating economic value that continues beyond the event itself.
Where do pavilions take place?
Pavilions and Passport to the World experiences are throughout New York City — Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island where Celebration activities are activated. Only the International Cultures–Immigrants Parade is on Avenue of the Americas.
Pavilions, Parade, Country Star, & Cultural Diplomacy
The selected city activates its NYC presence through a national pavilion throughout New York City, the International Cultures–Immigrants Parade on Avenue of the Americas, Country Star participation, and a culturally rich multi-day program citywide. Only the Parade is on Avenue of the Americas — pavilions and Passport to the World experiences are throughout NYC.
