Bradford 2025: Huge boom in visitors for UK's City of Culture as it marks halfway point

Now, as this week marks the halfway point in Bradford’s time to shine, the numbers start to roll in. Visitor numbers are shooting up, at museums and theatres and galleries.

And already, more than a million people have experienced projects celebrating the district - with 40,000 taking part in Bradford2025 in the first six months alone.

Shanaz Gulzar is creative director. The year, she said, seems to be passing too quickly. Still, we haven’t seen anything yet.

“The ambition for City of Culture was to create a year that is memorable for all the right reasons,” she said. “We are halfway through. It’s already achieved that.”

She pledged: “There’s more to come. If you think you’ve seen the best of it - you haven’t yet.”

Bradford became the UK’s fourth City of Culture when it launched to tremendous display with performance and lights in January.

Its bid has always been about the wider city and district, covering 141 square miles with moorland and countryside settings alongside its urban centre and canals.

And in the portfolio of projects that it’s delivered, said Ms Gulzar, the aim has always been to reflect this too. In “breadth and depth”, on all levels.

Already there’s been dance and theatre, music and food, with cash for creatives and development programmes and cultural exchanges.

Now the numbers roll in. Bradford is seeing a surge in visitor numbers.

The Alhambra Theatre, a special gem, has seen a huge leap as visitor numbers shoot up 37 per cent year on year, according to the council. St George’s Hall, also council run, is up too by 2,000 people.

Over 192 events, Bradford Council said, one in five bookings were from new visitors. There was international interest from some 52 countries.

Bradford’s theatres have seen some of the biggest returns, securing huge bookings for touring musicals including Wicked, Hamilton, The Book of Mormon, and Disney’s Aladdin.

And four museums run by the council have seen a 12 per cent increase already this year. Cartwright Hall has seen interest spike by more than a third. Here Bradford is hosting a series of exhibitions, partnering with big bodies such as the British Library for special projects such as Fighting to be Heard and I Am Me.

In Shipley another coming spectacular is to be Bloom this September, with aerial acrobatics promised to share the story of its strength and industrial past.

Then the Turner Prize, to be hosted at Cartwright Hall in one of the biggest coups for contemporary art in Britain.

What it shows, said organisers, is that if you build it they will come. It is hoped it can ignite not just investment but serve as a catalyst for regeneration.

“The ambition was to create a programme that has that breadth and depth,” said Ms Gulzar. “And to shift this narrative of Bradford - Bradfordians have it themselves.

“The ambition is for Bradford to be more confident, to stand tall and with a bit of swagger. That optimism, hope, positivity - that’s where change manifests.”

As Bradford2025 hits the halfway mark, an estimated 1.1m people have experienced its projects, new research released this week shows.

More than 500 local groups and artists have featured in the programme. In a survey, eight out of 10 residents said it made them feel proud. Nine out of ten rated events as good. And over 11,000 children have taken part through school.

There’s been live street music and on the moors, sculpture trails and performances, bringing light and sound and even the King and Queen of England to Yorkshire.

Then there’s some of the bigger bits, still to come. The Railway Children, to be brought to life, the opening of Bradford Live, Darley Street Market, and the new Sound and Vision Gallery for the National Science and Media Museum.

To Ms Gulzar, it’s been a real joy. She is stopped in the street all the time, she said, by proud Bradfordians who have absolutely taken this project to heart.

Her favourite thing to do, she added, is to listen in on quiet conversations. To stand in the crowd and hear the whispers of: “I wasn’t expecting to like that, but I did”.

The commitment at the start of all of this, she said, was to drive a programme that delivers for the whole district.

She’s been “blown away”, she added, by what’s grown from that.

“It’s joyous,” she added. “It’s always incredibly moving to see people coming together - it’s indescribable how it feels.

“I’m very proud of what this year is achieving. There’s so much that is coming next.”