The project is to be financed by several types of stakeholders – the public funding (locally, regionally, and nationally), sponsorships and autofinancing. The public funding amounts to ca. 75 %, sponsorships 15% and the self financing 10 %. Usually when Nordic cities have hosted the European Capital of Culture the public funding has been divided between the state and the municipality/region which probably also will be the case if Aarhus is chosen to be European Capital of Culture.
The budget for Aarhus 2017 is estimated to be between 40 and 60 million Euro, while the other projects already initiated in Aarhus, e.g. the new Multimedia house, amounts to 240 million euro as well as the first step of the establishment of the new Light Rail amounts to 133 million euro.
Hosting the European Capital of Culture is therefore not a single one-time investment, but encompass both in time and in magnitude a long term investment. It is therefore important that the project is incorporated in the already existing budgets and financial plans in Aarhus.
Former European Capitals of Culture have usually used about 15-20 % of the budget on the preparation phase and 15-20 % on marketing and PR, while the remaining 60-70 % is used during the cultural year on activities.
It will be realistic for Aarhus to spend between 6 million and 8,6 million euro (12-15% of the total budget for PR and marketing) on preparations from 2008 until 2017, and between 26 to 46 million euro for the activities in 2017. A minimum of 65 % of the budget will therefore be used on activities and projects.