We’re through to the next round of UK City of Culture 2025!

Bradford has been named as one of eight places through to the next round of the UK City of Culture 2025 competition.

More places than ever before entered the contest – which has now been whittled down from 20 places from across the UK, to just eight. This is a major milestone for Bradford!

Thousands of people have been involved in the process so far – including cultural and creative organisations, independent artists, partners from the educational, community and voluntary sectors, and businesses from across the district.

The pressure is on to create not only a winning bid, but also the most inclusive, exciting and distinctive bid possible. From Bradford to Bingley, from Keighley to Ilkley, from Saltaire and Shipley to Haworth – we can’t do this without you!

Bradford is a profusion of colour, an explosion of energy and a multitude of strong, progressive voices. This is Our Time, Our Place.

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Preparations for Bradford 2025 have already have generated a new confidence in our creative sector, and the team is now tasked with shaping the themes of the bid – to be submitted in January 2022.

Everyone who wants to know more about our plans for Bradford 2025 is encouraged to come along to Bradford 2025: On The Road, a series of informal get-togethers taking place in every area across the district.

‘We’re thrilled to have made the longlist for UK City of Culture 2025. The competition is about to ramp up and we are completely focused on creating the best possible bid – a winning bid – with and for the district. We’re in this to win. Bradford is changing fast and we want to use our rich cultural heritage, our storytellers and our diverse young population to create a bid that is both recognisably Bradford and a new story written in our own terms.’
Shanaz Gulzar, Chair of Bradford 2025

‘Thousands of people across Bradford, Keighley, Ilkley, Shipley and Bingley have been involved in getting the district to this point. To be selected for the long-list of eight is a massive show of confidence in all that we’ve done together.’
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford Council

‘People are waking up to Bradford’s potential and that’s good for residents, good for businesses and good for visitors. Local people will benefit hugely from the opportunities, not to mention the incredible experiences, of a year long city of culture celebration. We will do everything we can over the coming months to support the bid and create awareness of the campaign amongst our thousands of customers across the district.’
David Potts, CEO of Morrisons

‘Our focus now, alongside creating a winning bid, is to ensure that everyone – all local people from every corner of the district – joins us to make ours the most inclusive, most imaginative bid. Now that we’re officially on our way to creating BD25 – an extraordinary and dynamic destination where great things can happen, we need the help of everyone in the district. We want to create a programme that is unique to Bradford, to build BD25, a new place and time where difference is celebrated, where we relish diverse views, where creativity can flourish and thrive.’
Richard Shaw, Bid Director of Bradford 2025