Bradford 2025 UK City Of Culture

Bradford 2025 UK City Of Culture to launch with magical outdoor spectacle and reopening of the National Science and Media Museum

Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture © David Levene

The opening event for the year-long Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture already took place on 10 & 11 January 2025. RISE is a spectacular outdoor theatrical event that will take place in City Park and Centenary Square, launching the year-long programme. Bradford 2025 will celebrate contemporary culture in all forms and showcase the rich history and heritage of the area. Events, performances and activities will spread from the city to the towns, villages and green spaces across the district, running from January to December 2025.

Audiences for RISE will be greeted with a festival atmosphere as City Park is taken over by DJs, food trucks and entertainers ahead of the show, which is created by the district’s own magician Steven Frayne (formerly known as Dynamo) and directed by Kirsty Housley. The event will feature aerial performers, acrobatics and magic, and will have local people, voices and stories at its heart. A 200 strong cast include poets and rappers, a community choir led by the Friendship Choir, the Airedale Symphony Orchestra, and a multi-generational community ensemble of Bradford residents aged from 12 to 65.

Two major exhibitions opened in Bradford in January as part of the UK City of Culture programme – Nationhood: Memory and Hope (11 January – 26 April2025), featuring new work by acclaimed Ethiopian artist Aïda Muluneh and Fighting to be Heard (17 January – 27 April 2025) at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery explores connections between the ancient art of calligraphy and boxing, alongside rare items from the Arabic and Urdu collections of  the British Library.

Also launching in January is DRAW! a nation-wide drawing project inspired and supported by Bradford-born artist David Hockney in which members of the public are invited to take part. The National Science and Media Museum reopened in January following a major £6 million development. It presents David Hockney: Pieced Together (15 January – 18 May 2025) which explores the artist’s pioneering use of film and photography.

The internationally acclaimed Akram Khan Company will perform in Bradford for the first time, with performances of Jungle Book reimagined at the Alhambra Theatre. Based on the book by Rudyard Kipling, Khan and his team have reimagined the journey of Mowgli through the eyes of a refugee caught in a world devastated by the impact of climate change.

Cinema is celebrated through the programme in Northern Soul, a season of films from working-class northern women presented at Pictureville Cinema and curated by award-winning West Yorkshire raised writer director Clio Barnard (30 January – 9 February 2025).

Shanaz Gulzar, Creative Director of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture said:

“All eyes will be on Bradford as we mark the start of 2025 UK City of Culture. Our ambitious opening event will bring the district together reflecting Bradford’s youthfulness, diversity and heritage, lighting the creative spark that will fuel this incredible year and forge unforgettable memories. We’ll introduce audiences to our rural landscapes, pay tribute to our local heroes, and platform the astonishing talent emerging from our radical city. Our time is now – and it starts with RISE.”

Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport said:

“Our communities can and should be empowered to come together, tell their story and create change in their local area. That is what the UK City of Culture competition is all about. So much enthusiasm and hard work has gone into organising Bradford’s year. There is a real buzz in the city as people get ready to showcase their talents. I would encourage everyone to go and see some of the fantastic events in the new year.”

Darren Henley, Chief Executive Officer, Arts Council England said:

“This programme in its breadth and range gives people from communities across Bradford the chance to tell their stories, as well as giving visitors the opportunity to discover and rediscover how creative West Yorkshire is. And it’s all happening thanks to public investment from taxpayers and National Lottery players. 2025 is shaping up to be an amazing year.”

Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford Council said: “Bradford District is ready to welcome everyone to jon in our celebrations as UK City of Culture 2025. Bradford district has spectacular heritage buildings, breathtaking landscapes and diverse communities whose creativity is reflected in the City of Culture programme we’ll see this year.  There will be opportunities for residents and visitors alike to celebrate and share in an amazing array of cultural activities. I would like to invite everyone to visit the Bradford District at some point during the year and see for themselves what a wonderful, inspiring place it is.”

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said:

“Bradford’s creative industries are brimming with ingenuity, diversity and attitude, and with these spectacular opening events, the whole world will get to see Bradford at its best. That’s why we’re investing £6 million into Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 – to attract visitors and investment, create jobs and growth, and build a stronger, brighter West Yorkshire.”

Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture is supported using public investment from HM Government, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and through National Lottery funding from Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Lottery Community Fund, British Council, Spirit of 2012, as well as private investment and donations from a number of trusts, foundations and corporate sponsors.

About the UK City of Culture

UK City of Culture is a UK-wide programme, developed in collaboration with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The competition is run by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), inviting places across the UK to set out their vision for culture-led regeneration and takes place every four years.

The City of Culture designation has attracted new inward investment, dramatically increased visitor numbers, greater participation in arts and cultural activities, created new jobs and new opportunities for skills development for young people and helped transform the reputation of the cities that have previously held the title with long-term benefits including increased employment, new investment, enhanced skills, renewed pride, greater cultural capacity and more opportunities to participate in arts and cultural activities. It will give rise to new collaborations, connections and creative conversations.

In the past, the UK City of Culture has been awarded to Derry~Londonderry (2013), Hull (2017) and Coventry (2021).

Arts Council England

Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. Our vision, set out in our strategy Let’s Create, is that by 2030, we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish, and where every one of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. Between 2023 and 2026 we will have invested over £467 million of public money from Government, alongside an estimated £250 million each year from The National Lottery, to help ensure that people in every part of the country have access to culture and creativity in the places where they live. Until Autumn 2025, the National Lottery is celebrating its 30th anniversary of supporting good causes in the United Kingdom: since the first draw was held in 1994, it has raised £49 billion and awarded more than 690,000 individual grants.