There is a powerful narrative of Umeå as a progressive, gender-equal, tolerant citywhich has been important in relation to the investments in culture that the cityhas made, including the European Capital of Culture Year 2014. Viewing the cityas process, as negotiated and contested representation, we study how narratives ofgender-equality figure throughout Capital of Culture year, Umeå2014, and in theprojects that were part of it. We examine how the talk about gender-equality interactswith notions of place and how they are interconnected with each other. Weare interested in what happens with a major cultural project when gender-equalityis emphasized as one of the key values, at the same time as the meaning andcontent of this concept is not specified. Studying official documents and municipalwebpages concerning Umeå as European Capital of Culture, applications forco-funding of cultural projects and news articles, we scrutinize how gender-equalityis used and given meaning by looking at the way it is operationalized bothby the city officials and by those engaging in cultural activities. Gender equalitybecame something that was highlighted in the bid to become European Capitalof Culture and in the making of the programme for the year, and stories aboutthe Umeå2014’s success in implementing a gender-equality perspective have beenrepeated and woven together into a yet another narrative of Umeå. They becamepart of an ongoing negotiation of the city’s identity.