Marseille-Provence 2013 Capital of Culture in March 2004 and later expanded their bid to include neighboring cities in Provence. A French jury selected Marseille as its choice in September 2008. In May 2009, the European Council officially announced that Marseille would be the European Capital of Culture in 2013 in parallel with the city of Košice in Slovakia. In 2006, the official Marseille-Provence 2013 association was created under French laws for non-profit organizations. It brought together members of both the public and private sectors and was first directed by Bernard Latarjet and then Jean-François Chougnet. The association administrative council was led by
European Day of Jewish Culture of Jewish culture to the wider society in the countries where this event takes place, in the belief that a greater awareness of the culture, tradition and life of the different communities living in the same country or city helps people to know the "other", and thus, strengthens communication and dialogue between cultures in the country. The annual event was initiated in 1996 by the B'nai Brith of Strasbourg in the French département Bas-Rhin together with the local Agency for development of tourism. It now involves twenty-seven European countries including Turkey and Ukraine. The original aim of the day was