We’ve submitted our UK City of Culture bid!
In a defining moment for Bradford, young people from across the district have given our official UK City of Culture bid a celebratory send-off as it makes its way to London.
We join seven other places from around the UK in submitting a final bid to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), marking a major milestone in the hotly-contested campaign to be crowned the next UK City of Culture.
The full bid contains details about what our potential year as UK City of Culture would look like – with thousands of spectacular events, increased access to culture, and innovative new uses of public spaces and exciting perspectives on our heritage.
An independent panel of judges will now review the bid submissions and up to four places will be shortlisted in March. Judges will visit the shortlisted cities in April or May before announcing the winner at the end of May.
‘This is a defining moment for the district. All the hard work over the last two years has generated an energy right across the district, giving rise to new collaborations, connections and creative conversations that have helped us create what we feel is a winning bid. Thousands of people have helped shape Bradford’s bid – and while we can’t say too much at this stage as we want to keep our bid full of surprises for the judges and our citizens, it’s very much by Bradford and of Bradford. It’s also timely as Bradford was recently named by an independent report as the city with the most to gain from the levelling up agenda. It seems everyone is realising what we’ve long known – Bradford is a city with huge ambitions, and so much potential.’
Shanaz Gulzar, Chair of Bradford 2025
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“ At the heart of our bid are our young people, and I’ve been so impressed by their enthusiasm and aspiration. They really have embraced the opportunity to play a far more active role in shaping their future. We’ve done all we can and now it’s over to the judges. But thank you Bradford – we really do believe this is our time.”