Bradford is entering its final quarter as the UK’s City of Culture 2025 with a hell of a splash: the BBC announcing on Thursday that 22.6 million have watched its coverage so far this year, with 2.3 million viewers in the Yorkshire/Lincolnshire region alone.
The unexpected highlight of the year has been the BBC’s Bantam of the Opera, a community choir comprising survivors of the 1985 Bradford City stadium fire, which has garnered 11.4 million viewers on its own. The Bantam choir exemplifies the support the people of Bradford have given to the City of Culture 2025, sharing their stories and their joy and creativity with audiences regionally and nationally.
Shanaz Gulzar, creative director for Bradford 2025, praised how the incredible the response has been from the people of Bradford, who have shown up in huge numbers for music, comedy, art, and theatre. Tim Davie, director-general of the BBC said how extremely proud he was of the many people the BBC have reached with the stories of Bradford so far this year and, of course, “the great news is we are not finished yet”.
What’s been happening at Bradford City of Culture
Bradford City of Culture 2025 kicked off with RISE, its spectacular opening event, which is still available to watch via Bradford’s Big Bash, a behind-the-scenes film of event created by Kirsty Housley in collaboration with Steven Frayne, the world-renowned Bradford-born magician formerly known as Dynamo.
BBC One drama, Virdee, premiered at the beginning of the year, bringing a touch of Hollywood glamour to Bradford. Both filmed and set in Bradford, as well as being created by Bradford-born writer, Amit Dhand, the series is filled with local talent, and it was only right that the premier was held here as well.
In April, Bill Bailey brought Extraordinary Portraits to Bradford, with series four of the show, which showcases portraits of ‘unsung heroes’, such as Gill Sayell, a trailblazer for women’s football, painted by ex-professional goalkeeper turned painter David James.
This past weekend, the BBC Proms arrived in Yorkshire, with Grammy award-winning singer Angélique Kidjo and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra performing the African Symphony to a sold out St George’s Hall, broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Also broadcast this weekend was the Antiques Roadshow’s June visit to the Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Lister Park, with Fiona Bruce and a team of experts assessing antiques, family heirlooms and vintage finds from the local community.
Art and literature in Bradford
The arts have played a significant part in Bradford this year, with over 187,000 people attending its annual Literature Festival at Bradford University. Guests included such names as John Cooper Clarke, Celia Imrie and Griff Rhys Jones, alongside food writers Grace Dent and Nisha Katona launching the Big Tasty Read in partnership with BBC Arts.
The Loading Bay, a pop-up venue built for this year’s celebrations, and the venue for the aforementioned Extraordinary Portraits, has had a full programme of events, including Kailey a comedy-drama based on Kerry Wright’s experience of living on the street after her parents were jailed, and Our Turn: Practice Bradford, an exhibition of emerging local artists, part of a programme providing funding, mentorship and professional development with Bradford Producing Hub and Bradford 2025.
Comedy in Bradford
The BBC New Comedy Awards Grand Final, which has whittled around 1,500 comedians down to just six, is filming at the Alhambra Theatre in October, hosted by multi-award-winning actor, writer and comedian, Guz Khan. Audience tickets are free. The winner receives £1,000 and will perform on Comic Relief next year.
Contains Strong Language, the UK’s biggest poetry and performance festival comes to Bradford in September. This includes a plethora of free events: the National Young Poet Laureate launch, Open Mic Night, BBC Radio 4 Front Row, to name but a few.
CBeebies pantomime
Featuring a host of stars, Cinderella, CBeebies’ 2025 pantomime is also filming at the Alhambra. The cast includes Rhys Stephenson, Evie Pickerill and Justin Fletcher. Composed by Banks and Wag, the CBeebies panto will be the centrepiece of the CBeebies Christmas schedule.
For families looking to start off the festive season very early, Cinderella is filming on 11 and 12 October and tickets are selling very quickly.
Bradford moving forward
This year’s investment in Bradford is paving the way for an exciting future. BBC Yorkshire and Lancashire’s Katrina Bunker says the strong relationships made across the city will be built on: talks are already underway for continuing projects, such as Bantam of the Opera, though the specifics are a closely guarded secret. There are clearly exciting plans afoot.
The powerful focus City of Culture 2025 has had on the people of Bradford has showcased the strength of the local communities, as well as the wealth of talent here in the north. It used to be that to have a career in the arts you had to move to London, however, that landscape is changing, with a lot of programming being move out of the capital and developments in tech making remote access easier than it’s ever been.
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, says:
“I’m delighted that people from across the country have been able to experience what Bradford district has to offer through this great partnership with the BBC. The BBC as our broadcast partner has really helped to bring a bit of Bradford to millions of people.
“We knew when we submitted our bid this would be a great opportunity for the whole district to show how much we have to offer, being UK City of Culture has certainly delivered that. The level of interest and participation from residents, visitors and tourists has been fantastic. It really is our time.”
