Bradford 2025: programme for City of Culture announced

In January 2025, Bradford will become the fourth UK City of Culture. It also follows a period of exciting activity in the West Yorkshire region including LEEDS 2023, Wakefield’s Our Year 2024, and Culturedale Year of Culture.

If the atmosphere at the announcement event in St George’s Hall last night was anything to go by, Bradford’s upcoming stint as UK City of Culture continues to be a major cause for celebration. Wine was in good supply, and audience members were dancing and singing in the aisles before a word had been uttered on stage.

The evening was presented by TV GP Dr Amir Khan and Irene Kaali (who was announced as one of the BBC’s New Voices Bradford in May) while performances from local musicians, dancers and even a poet were interspersed with announcements throughout the event. The message was clear: big names, partnerships and events might be creating a buzz, but Bradford already has the creative talent – this is about opportunities.

Bradford is often described as a city that has been overlooked – an “underdog” next to Leeds and Manchester. The programme announced last night hopes to change that narrative.

“The programme is about trying to contextualise where we are and how we are,” said Shanaz Gulzar, the Creative Director of Bradford 2025, when we caught up after the announcement. She emphasised the importance of reminding ourselves of the significance of Bradford’s history and the stories that make it what it is today. “Arts and creativity help us tell these stories.”

Here are some of the highlights:

JANUARY

(10^th and 11^th) RISE, a huge outdoor theatrical event with Steven Frayne (formerly known as Dynamo) and directed by Kirsty Housley, will launch Bradford 2025.

FEBRUARY

Film director Clio Barnard (Ali & Ava, The Selfish Giant) will curate a series of films from working-class northern women at the National Science and Media Museum’s Pictureville Cinema.

APRIL

Following a multi-million-pound transformation The National Science and Media Museum will reopen in January 2025 with a new digital installation by Marshmallow Laser Feast .

The Big Brass Blowout, will be a weekend celebration of brass music, including performances from one of the world’s oldest brass bands, Bradford’s Black Dyke Band.

MAY

The Orchestra of Opera North will join forces with bassline musicians, singers and DJs to create Bassline Symphony.

Charles Hazlewood, Paraorchestra and Jeremy Deller will team up with local musicians for The Bradford Progress, a “sonic journey” through the city.

Wild Uplands: four new contemporary visual artworks created by national and international artists, will be revealed at Penistone Hill Country Park.

JUNE

Ice Age Art Now, an exhibition made in collaboration with the British Museum at Cliffe Castle Museum will open at Cliffe Castle Museum.

JULY

Akram Khan will be collaborating with Dance United Yorkshire for Memories of the Future, an intergenerational project featuring 60 (largely non-) dancers drawn from communities across Bradford.

AUGUST

Dialled In will lead a celebration of contemporary South Asian music.

SEPTEMBER

Cartwright Hall Art Gallery will host The Turner Prize.

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For more information and events, visit bradford2025.co.uk