Bradford awarded £10 million to help put on City of Culture performances

The funding will help support cultural activities and live performances across the city and wider region with around 1,000 performances expected across the year, attracting 15.5 million visitors and £137 million into the local economy.

This includes “Beacon” a travelling event space which is expected to make the most of the sprawling size of the event which stretches across the Bradford council area outside of the city.

The increased cultural and economic activity is expected to deliver up to £389 million of growth for Bradford, the Government said.

In an interview with Stuart Andrew, the culture minister who represents Pudsey in Yorkshire, he said that the inclusion of areas such those surrounding Keighley and Ilkley will create something “unique”

“For the first time, the city of culture will actually feature rural parts in it,” he said.

“It is usually centred around a city, but of course, the boundaries of the city of Bradford council area go out as far as Keighley and Ilkley and so [the organisers] wanted to include that as well.

“I think that's gonna make it quite a really unique one because you'll have the city centre-type of cultural experience, but then exploring nature in the natural environment, you could do something quite different, quite exciting.

“I think having that inclusion is going to make it a City of Culture like no other.”

“They want to focus on the fact that it is the city with the youngest population, and so engaging with young people here is one of the key elements of what they're doing, which I think makes it really exciting.”

The funding boost will help Bradford towards its ambition to create 6,845 new jobs and opportunities right across the city by 2030.

In addition to the £10 million of government funding, Arts Council England is allocating £5 million in National Lottery, as well as £4.95 million awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Mr Stuart did not rule out more government money being allocated for the project in the future.

“When we've provided funding to cities of culture in other areas we’ve made announcements at various stages,” he added.

The minister said that the investment seen in the region could also pave the way for further projects from other government departments.

“If we start to see the sort of investment that we hope we will see as a result of this, in terms of private investment, job creation, and so on, it will be something for my colleagues in other departments to have a look at,” he said.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of UK City of Culture, with the first host being Derry-Londonderry in 2013, followed by Hull in 2017 and Coventry in 2021.

Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, said: "The funding announced today by DCMS and Arts Council England is welcome good news.

“It’s further evidence of the willingness to invest not just in a global Bradford and in the cultural and physical regeneration of our city, but in the young people who will help shape its future.

"Now is our time, time for Bradford to shine and become a beacon for what’s great about Yorkshire, and about the North.

“We will also be the largest, most ambitious and the first district wide City of Culture bid ever so we also remain optimistic that we will see more funding of this sort from Government in the near future to help us fully realise the opportunity that being the UK City of Culture in 2025 brings."