A CROWD of thousands packs the waterside as an enormous monster breathes jets of fire.

Firework displays and colourful pageants draw gasps of amazement while world-renowned artists, musicians and dramatists perform on stages ranging from purpose-built arenas to street corners.

Thousands of tourists will pour into the city over the course of the year to be entranced, astonished and moved by events ranging from state-of-the-art light extravaganzas to exhibitions reflecting centuries’ worth of turbulent history.

This is the dream for Southampton in 2017 – and the reality of Derry in 2013.

Next week, Southampton is likely to find out if it is still in the running to succeed the Northern Irish city as the UK’s City of Culture.

As previously revealed in the Daily Echo, Southampton has teamed up with Portsmouth in a bid to win the 2017 title.

The panel in charge of deciding the next City of Culture will meet next week to decide which of the 11 bidding cities, towns and regions will make the final shortlist of four. The winner will then be announced in November.

Competition Derry’s own dream to become the UK’s first City of Culture began in 2009 with the launch of the new competition after Liverpool’s success as European Capital of Culture. And a year later the city’s population was celebrating as Derry beat Sheffield, Norwich and Birmingham to win the coveted prize.

According to Derry City Council’s Claire Lundy, who worked on the bid, there was one big reason why Derry was chosen by the judging panel.

She said: “The reason we won it was because we had the most to gain.

“A lot of the cities bidding talked about their product, but we talked about having the best story to tell, because it’s about transition and change, and culture’s at the heart of that.”

Derry is certainly a city of change.

Once synonymous with the sectarian troubles that divided Northern Irish society between Catholic and Protestant, Republican and Loyalist, a wave of recent investment has allowed the city to play on its rich historical and cultural heritage to revitalise itself as a culture vulture’s paradise.

In the run-up to this year, £80m was invested across the city on schemes such as railway improvements (£27m), the construction of the Peace Bridge (£14.5m), the transformation of the former Army parade ground at Ebrington Square into a public arena (£7.2m) and the restoration of the city’s Guildhall (£4.5m).

And in terms of the cultural aspects of the city, £4.6m has been spent on the purpose-built Venue 2013, £3m on the refurbishment of venues across the city and £2.5m on a Creative Hub.

In addition, half of businesses surveyed by the city’s Chamber of Trade said they had seen a positive impact from the City of Culture.

But being City of Culture is about far more than just bringing investment into the city.

Although there has been criticism over the marketing of some events, it is clear that, broadly speaking, Derry’s first five and a half months as City of Culture have been a success.

This year saw the busiest May, in terms of visitor numbers, in Derry’s history, and city chiefs have announced their ambition to turn the city into “Europe’s hottest new tourist destination”

– something which few would have dreamed of even two decades ago, but with the city set to welcome one million visitors this year, is now a realistic ambition.

Three thousand jobs have been created in Derry through the City of Culture, with 700 of them going to people in the city’s most deprived areas.

The event has brought a hitherto unknown level of cultural prestige and international interest to the city, as shown by the presence of visitors and journalists from countries as far away as China, Germany and the USA.

Already, this year has seen concerts such as the opening Sons and Daughters event, featuring Northern Irish artists from Phil Coulter to Girls Aloud’s Nadine Coyle, and the threeday Radio One Big Weekender, starring the likes of Dizzee Rascal, Robbie Williams and Bruno Mars.

There have also been performances by the Ulster Orchestra and Royal Ballet, dance festivals, stage productions ranging from celebrations of revered play-wright Brian Friel’s works to celebrations of Derry’s own history, the International Peace Conference and a host of events aimed at young people.

Last weekend, the Return of Colmcille pageant, named after the city’s sixth century patron saint, took place across two days and saw colourful floats make their way across the city featuring local performers and city musical heroes The Undertones, events based around the myth of St Colmcille, culminating in a spectacular event on the River Foyle featuring the fearsome Loch Ness monster attacking the city, St Colmcille repelling him and a stunning fireworks display.

And with the pageant not even halfway through, the city still has hundreds of events, including Irish music and dance festivals, the arrival of the Turner art prize, an electronic music festival, a light spectacular and Hallowe’en carnival still to look forward to.

One of the key aims of the event has been inclusion. And seeing the crowds of thousands gathering excitedly to watch the Return of Colmcille event, it was clear to see that both residents and visitors have been enthused with what the city has achieved this year.

Maolíosa Boyle, manager at the city’s Void art gallery, says being City of Culture has allowed the gallery to take art to other areas of the city.

She said: “We’ve always been able to show work by renowned artists, but this year we’ve been able to take art outside of the gallery – it’s very much about community involvement and involving younger people in art as well.”

That sense of involvement is one of the key themes of Derry’s bid – and also of Southampton’s, with civic chiefs here wanting to open up the city’s largely hidden art collection to the whole community if their bid is successful.

Next week Southampton will discover if it still has a chance of succeeding Derry, and if it is are among the final four nominees, one of the key figures behind Derry’s success has some advice for bid bosses.

When asked what advice she would give to the bid team in Southampton, Shona McCarthy, the chief executive of the Culture Company 2013, said: “Forget about the number-crunching – that’s not the important part.

“What is important is bringing a story to life and showing creativity – be true to your vision of what culture represents in your city.”