Bradford 2025: Cost of UK City of Culture celebration revealed

People in Bradford celebrate after finding out it had been crowned UK City of Culture 2025. Picture by Bruce Rollinson.

The Government announced last summer that the city had beaten finalists County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham to claim the coveted title.

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

Around 15.5m people are expected to visit the city and spend £137m in the district, according to Government estimates.

Pete Massey from the Arts Council, Dan Bates and Shanaz Gulzar from Bradford 2025 and Culture Minister Stuart Andrew in Bradford after the Government pledged £10m

West Yorkshire Combined Authority said the year-long festival would cost “in the region of £45m” and funding would come from various sources, including the Government, Heritage England, Bradford Council and several sponsors.

The organisation, run by West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, is planning to provide £300,000 to support the “development stage” and said sponsors would provide £200,000.

The combined authority said grants will then be offered to small charities and non-profits organisations so they can “scale up” and help deliver the year-long celebration.

It comes after the Government promised to invest £10m in Bradford 2025, Arts Council England provided £5m and the National Heritage Lottery Fund promised £4.95m.

The authority said: “Bradford City of Culture 2025 will celebrate the area’s rich and diverse local culture with a programme of events staged by a range of organisations, including small, third sector and charitable organisations.

“City of Culture status will change the story about Bradford and challenge the perceptions of a city that has laid the foundations for modern society in Britain.

“It will bring economic growth, improved quality of life and create a legacy of more visitors, new jobs and more people attracted to living in a place of great opportunity.”

Bradford will take over from Coventry, which has held the City of Culture title since 2021. Other previous winners include Hull (2017) and Londonderry (2013).

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 last year.