Painting the Sky: TONIGHT – FRIDAY 14 Nov – TBC, weather dependent. Read More.

An image of a microphone in focus with a crowd of seated people blurred in the background

17 Jul 2025

Say It As It Is: Cliffe Castle Park

with Kirsty Taylor

Speak up and listen in – Kirsty Taylor hosts a special open mic night for Bradford 2025

Event Details
Date 17 Jul 2025
Times 7:30pm
Location The Beacon – Cliffe Castle Park
Tickets £3 ↓
Ages Aimed at 14+
Under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult
Access
  • Wheelchair user access

We’re turning over the stage to the people of Bradford for an open mic night in The Beacon hosted by the one and only Kirsty Taylor.

Say It As It Is is a night for bold voices, open hearts and truth-telling. A space to speak, listen and connect. Whether you’re a poet, a storyteller, a rapper or a musician, this is your chance to share something raw, real or brand new. No fancy stages and no big egos – just voices, words and proper Bradford flavours.

A night for bold voices, open hearts and truth telling. Step up, speak out, and connect through words, community and the power of shared stories.

The mic is open. Come to perform. Come to listen. Come to be part of something.

Please note
This event is not aimed at children, but families are welcome with the understanding that content may include adult themes and language.

Open Mic Ethos

Say It As It Is is an open mic event where words take the spotlight. This could be poetry, story telling, a comedic ditty, rapping, or playing an acoustic guitar song with lyrics. Purely instrumental performances aren’t part of this event as we feel the setting is most suited to spoken and sung words.

Open Mic Information

  • Each open micer will have 3 minutes maximum to share, including any introductions they would like to give about them/their performance.
  • The set up will be one singular mic, centre stage.
  • Music acts will be unplugged, a cappella only (unfortunately we can’t plug in amps, USB’s, backing tracks).
  • Performances don’t have to be in English, we encourage multi lingual artists to share too.
  • 12 performers will be selected using a ballot process. We will also operate a waiting list but please only sign up if you can definitely attend.
  • We can support access needs and travel costs to the event – we will discuss this with you if your slot is confirmed.
  • If you are selected in the ballot to perform, you will receive a confirmation email at least a week before the event with all the relevant information.

Visit The Beacon at Cliffe Castle Park

The Beacon is a custom-made touring venue for Bradford 2025.

From 10 July – 10 August, The Beacon will be at Cliffe Castle Park.

Plan your visit below, or get in touch with us on [email protected] for more information.

Cliffe Castle Park
Spring Gardens Ln,
Keighley,
BD20 6LH

Credits
Images © Karol Wyszynski

Past event

Were you at this event?

Complete our feedback form and let us know what you thought.

Share your feedback

Related Events

A woman with short hair poses with a microphone.
Part of Loading Bay

Loaded Laughs

Bradford 2025's comedy night.

A portrait photo of two best mates and performance/live art makers, Jess Murrain and Lua Bairstow. There is a small silver car with a Palestine sticker on its window, parked beside a road on the edge of the Baildon Moor in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Jess, a brown person with blonde and brown afro hair, is standing in front of the back of the car. Posed, looking directly at the camera. Wearing white Doc Martens, grey trousers with pink pinstripes, a sheer black shirt, a vivid pink feather boa, sunglasses and headphones. The door of the car is open. Lua, a white, gender non-conforming person, is standing next to Jess and beside the open car door, looking back at the road behind them. Wearing a pinstriped suit with a turquoise shirt just peeking through.

NEUROQUEER: Part 1

Exploring NEUROQUEER as action, verb, identity.

FREE Part of Our Patch

Talkabout… Who am I? Who are You? Who are We?

An evening of theatrical celebration chronicling some of the lives lived in Silsden in 2025.

A woman with long dark hair and wearing a pink dress stares into the camera - her background is red and she's holding a microphone.
Part of Loading Bay

Urooj Ashfaq: How To Be A Baddie

Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer Urooj Ashfaq is back, but this time she’s different.

FREE

If All the World Were…

Tutti Frutti Productions and Bradford & Leeds Libraries

A beautifully performed reading of "If All the World Were..." by award-winning children’s writer Joseph Coelho.

A red and black image of a man with short dark hair looking away from the camera.
Part of Loading Bay

Steven Frayne: Back Home and Magical

Steven Frayne returns to his home city of Bradford for a special UK City of Culture residency.

Three women look into a mirror. They wear gold dresses and have drawings on their faces. One of them has a penis drawn on her forehead.
Part of Loading Bay

EGGS COLLECTIVE’S DARK NIGHTS

Twisted cabaret nights at Loading Bay.

A dancer poses in the dark just before dawn. They are outside, wearing a blue top, jacket and loose trousers.
SOLD OUT

Brighter Still

The finale! Join us for our big closing event - and look ahead to a brilliant Bradford future together.