Next step of Bradford's 2025 City of Culture preparations is 'incredibly important'

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced last month that the district had beaten finalists County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham to claim the coveted title.

Bradford 2025, which prepared the winning bid, said there are plans for more than 1,000 performances and events in 2025 that celebrate the city’s “unique heritage and character” and feature work from 365 artists.

The recruitment process for a creative director and an executive director, who will be responsible for delivering the programme, has begun as the job adverts went out earlier this month.

The directors will take charge of the programme, oversee the commissioning of artwork and events and manage the production teams.

Bradford 2025 chair Shanaz Gulzar said the new leadership team will be in place by the end of the year and they can then begin preparing a programme which will feature street art, exhibitions, music and live theatre.

“I hope it’s going to be the best City of Culture the country’s ever had, so we need to learn from what worked and what didn’t work with the friends of ours who came before us,” she said.

“These two roles will be incredibly important in delivering that.

“The bid team has done a fantastic job of bringing the district along with us, so maintaining that momentum and buy-in is also going to be important.”

Ms Gulzar said the new team will have to hit the ground running and work with hundreds of artists to highlight and celebrate a wide range of diverse communities and cultural assets across the Bradford district.

“It’s about helping the rest of the country see us in all our glory, in all our colours. Our complexity is beautiful,” she added.

The team are also encouraging people in Bradford to pitch ideas and share stories that deserve to be heard during the year-long celebration, which will have four themes.

“Coming of Age” will celebrate Bradford’s young people and their artistic ideas throughout 2025, when 30,000 people in the district are due to turn 18, and “Everything is Connected” will look at technology and innovation.

“City of the World” will explore Bradford’s industrial history and the impact it has had on countries across the globe, and “Welcome Home Sexy”!, named after a piece of well-known graffiti, will take a look at the district’s unique character and socially progressive attitude.

According to Bradford 2025, the UK City of Culture title could bring an extra £700m of investment to the district, create around 3,000 jobs and attract 1.1 million visitors.

Bradford will take over from Coventry, which has held the title since 2021. Other previous winners include Derry-Londonderry in 2013 and Hull in 2017.

The district in West Yorkshire beat off competition from 19 other places to become the next UK City of Culture.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said the “young and vibrant” city’s winning bid “drew upon its wide range of local cultural assets”, including the Brontë Parsonage and Saltaire Unesco World Heritage Site.

Screenwriter Sir Phil Redmond, who led the panel of judges for the competition, said he was impressed that people in the city had “a real hunger” for the title, following a visit in May.

He added: “They’ve got the point that culture is a great catalyst to bring about change.