A Good Yarn: City Centre Roll

A Good Yarn is a huge ball of yarn – and we mean huge. We’re collecting fabric and clothing donations across Bradford District. We’re plaiting them into a rope stretching more than a kilometre. And with the help of community groups in BD10, we’re winding the rope into a ginormous yarn ball, three metres high and wide – then rolling it through the streets of Bradford in July. Look out!

We’re not just collecting fabric, though: we also want to collect your fabric-related stories, from memories of Bradford’s industrial heritage to stories about a favourite old piece of clothing. The Broken Orchestra will be collecting your yarns about yarn and turning them into a soundscape for an exhibition, when you’ll also be able to see the giant yarn ball before it’s recycled at the end of 2025.

A Good Yarn rolls are weather dependent.

About the Artists

Luke Jerram is a UK artist who creates extraordinary sculptures, installations and live art projects around the world, often for public spaces. His previous works include Museum of the Moon, which has been presented in more than 40 countries around the world; First Breath, a light artwork celebrating new life; and Play Me, I’m Yours, street pianos installed in cities from Tokyo to New York.

Bloomin’ Buds are a Bradford-based theatre company that works to increase access to the arts for working-class communities in the district. Based at Albion Mills in BD10, Bloomin’ Buds are passionate advocates for bringing voice and empowerment to working-class people and communities through the arts.

The Broken Orchestra are known both for their genre-defying music and for their innovative work in producing work for public space and community arts. Their projects transform public spaces into sonic canvases, using field recordings, spoken word and original compositions to reflect the stories, voices, and textures of local communities.