Graham Clark, Music Features Writer

Bradford 2025: The UK City Of Culture Rises With A Spectacular Launch

Photo: David Levene/ Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture
Photo: David Levene/ Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture
For the last twelve months, Bradford has been having a bit of a spruce-up in readiness for a year in the limelight as the UK City of Culture 2025. Despite the upheaval that comes with renovation and refurbishment, many residents have referred to Bradford as the City of Clutter. Will it all be worth it? Ask that question in twelve months time, and you might have an affirmative answer.

Bradford’s flagship National Science and Media Museum has reopened after a £6 million pound restoration after being closed for 18 months, with the opening exhibition, David Hockney: Pierced Together (15 January - 18 May), exploring the Bradford-born artist's experiments with photography. Highlights include his photo montage of the outside of the museum from the mid-eighties and his four-screen video footage of the four seasons via a stretch of road in Woldgate Woods in the Yorkshire Wolds. 

The Impressions Gallery has the a major exhibition, Nationhood: Memory and Hope (11 January-26 April), featuring new work by the acclaimed Ethiopian artist Aida Muluneh. Shot through her surrealist lens at locations in Bradford, Belfast, Cardiff, and Glasgow, the images are stark and bold, set against moments that shape the subjects she has photographed.

The only issue is that Bradford Live, the former Odeon cinema transformed into a 4,000-seater entertainment venue, which was supposed to be the centrepiece of the celebrations, won't open for at least the first six months of the celebration. This is because an operator has yet to be found to manage the £50 million venue after the original operator withdrew.

Steven Frayne, formerly known as Dynamo on the opening night of Rise

Photo: David Levene/ Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture
Steven Frayne, formerly known as Dynamo on the opening night of Rise Photo: David Levene/ Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture
The opening spectacle RISE featured Bradford magician Steven Frayne, formerly known as Dynamo, with a cast of local musicians, actors, and acrobats. Aptly named Rise, with the city rising to prominence for a year of cultural festivities, the temperature contrastingly plummeted to minus three degrees on the first of two nights of the launch event, though that did not deter a 10,000-strong audience from turning out to witness the event.

Shanaz Gulzar, Creative Director, Bradford 2025
All eyes will be on Bradford as we celebrate the launch of UK City of Culture. RISE will bring the district together for an inspiring event reflecting Bradford’s youthfulness, diversity and heritage, lighting the creative spark that will fuel this incredible year and forge unforgettable memories. Our time is now – and it starts with RISE.


Against a backdrop of an illuminated City Hall, a festival atmosphere prevailed in City Park—a two-hundred-strong cast, including poets and rappers, a community choir led by the Friendship Choir, the Airedale Symphony Orchestra, and a multi-generational community ensemble of Bradford residents aged from 12 to 65, all helped to create a spectacular show.

Steven Frayne, formerly known as Dynamo on the opening night of Rise

Photo: David Levene/ Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture
Steven Frayne, formerly known as Dynamo on the opening night of Rise Photo: David Levene/ Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture
The highlight of the night came as Frayne appeared in person on stage to present some magic as he proudly announced, “I’ve made so many memories in Bradford; this is probably my favourite of all,” going on to say, “This year is going to be amazing.”.

Even the most cynical observers, many of whom rightly or wrongly believe Bradford 2025 will not make any difference economically, socially, or culturally to the city, were enthralled and enthused by Rise despite the bitter cold. 

For now, the focus remains firmly on the city as Bradford rises to the challenge of changing perceptions, with the year serving as a catalyst for development, regeneration, and change—reshaping Bradford for the benefit of future generations.

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West YorkshireBradford’s creative industries are brimming with ingenuity, diversity and attitude, and with these spectacular opening events, the whole world will get to see Bradford at its best. That’s why we’re investing £6 million into Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 – to attract visitors and investment, create jobs and growth, and build a stronger, brighter West Yorkshire.