The European Capital of Culture ended in celebrations on 12 December. With images still dancing in front of their eyes, it is now time for the Mons 2015 teams to take stock of the event. The adventure was a great success for the city, which plans to use it as a springboard for the future.

Mons' influence spread both in Belgium and abroad throughout 2015. This ambitious project can be illustrated with a few figures: 11 years of preparations, 300 artistic projects in every imaginable discipline, leading to some 3,000 initiatives, 5,000 artists including 1,500 local artists, 98 partner towns and institutions, more than 2,100,000 visitors, 4,000 students involved, 2,100 volunteer ambassadors, 800 kg of coffee and… almost 2,000 participants!

This exceptional year marked a turning point for the City of Mons, which from now on plans to focus its communications on culture. It has just unveiled its new logo, which fully reflects the spirit of Mons 2015. It was designed by teams from the City of Mons and will be used by a number of local cultural and tourist institutions; the idea was to continue the strategy implemented during the European Year of Culture, i.e. bringing all the available resources together to create more effective communication.

Although we cannot predict the future, it is clear that the image of Mons has changed and it is now one the most important cultural cities in Europe.