Diversity wins Bradford UK city of culture prize
DELIGHT AS YOUNG PEOPLE URGED TO BE ‘LEADERS AND CHANGE-MAKERS’
BRADFORD has been named as the UK city of culture for 2025, beating rivals Southampton, Wrexham and County Durham in a months-long competition.
The west Yorkshire city’s win was announced live on the BBC’s One Show last Tuesday (31) by culture secretary Nadine Dorries.
“Congratulations to Bradford, which is a worthy winner of UK city of culture 2025,” Dorries said.
Winners of the prestigious award see thousands of tourists flock to their city, as well as millions of pounds of funding and investment. It also sees major national events held there, such as the Turner Prize for art.
Bradford will receives £275,000 in initial funding in order to help the city develop its plans for 2025.
“This is our time to celebrate our extraordinary district – and for our young population to become leaders and change-makers to begin an exciting new chapter in our story,” a Twitter post from the Bradford 2025 official bid account said.
Shanaz Gulzar, the chair of Bradford 2025, described how while Bradford had been “overlooked and underestimated,” it was now time for the city to shine. “This fantastic result is down to the ambition, belief and hard work of thousands of people across the district who were behind our bid,” she said.
A record 20 initial bids from cities and local areas across the UK were narrowed down to eight, then four for the final shortlist. Bradford takes over from Coventry, the 2021 UK city of culture. Hull and Derry have held the title in 2017 and 2013, respectively.
Judges said they were impressed by Bradford’s ambitious pitch, which celebrated the power of diversity and encourage local engagement with both artists and residents.
“I am looking forward to seeing how far the cultural bar can be raised in [2025],” said Sir Phil Redmond, chair of the competition’s independent advisory panel.
Bradford has many cultural assets, including the Brontë Parsonage, National Science and Media Museum and the Saltaire Unesco world heritage site.
It is also one of the most diverse cities in the UK, with a substantial Asian population.
One of the city’s cultural hubs is the Kala Sangam arts centre, which specialises in art from south Asia. The city also hosts the annual Bradford literature festival, which sees attendance numbers of over 70,000 people.
Its population is young too, with one in four people under 18.
West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin expressed joy at the announcement. “As one of the youngest and most diverse places in the UK, Bradford will benefit so much from this platform to highlight everything it has to offer,” she said.
More than 1,000 new events and performances are planned for 2025, including 365 artist commissions and major arts festivals. It’s also believed the accolade will generate £700 million for the local economy and create 3,000 jobs.
Bradford’s council leader Susan Hinchcliffe celebrated the win, saying it brought “so many opportunities” to the area.
“We’re delighted that our district has been recognised in this way,” she said.