Immersive magical world, GRUE, opens in Bingley
Published February 10, 2025
- Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture opened an enchanted landscape- made entirely of sustainable materials- in Bingley last week.
- GRUE will be open to the public on 15-23 February as well as performances aimed at primary schools and home educators on 10-14 February.
An immersive dream-like world, GRUE, that forms part of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, opened to the public at Damart Mill in Bingley last week (8-9 February). GRUE will present a series of sessions especially for local schools, home educators and community groups (11-14 February) before re-opening to the public for February Half Term (15-23 February).
Commissioned by Bradford 2025, GRUE is a magical immersive installation by Wintercroft and ARCADE, perfect for families with pre-school and primary school aged children to enjoy. Complete with live performers and inspired by the heritage of Bingley, audiences will explore a series of fantastical landscapes as they embark on a quest through the basement of the Mill.
The scenery itself has been created by the people of Bradford, in workshops including drop-in sessions in libraries, and has been built entirely out of sustainable and repurposed materials such as paper and cardboard. Hundreds of community members have helped create the magical world of GRUE through a number of workshops making over 1000 items including birds, fish, houses, grasses, flowers, faces and more. In addition to this, local schools have helped to build the magical world of GRUE, and will be enjoying class trips to the installation in the week before half term.
GRUE is the first event in Bradford 2025’s year-long PLAY programme, a series of events and playful interventions that will take place over the course of the year. With 27.9% of the district’s population under 20, Bradford is one of the UK’s youngest cities and Bradford 2025’s PLAY programme aims to ignite the imagination, encouraging children, as well as people of all ages, across the district to celebrate creativity and the joy of playing.
GRUE is designed by Steve Wintercroft – a Scarborough based designer, visual artist, and the founder of Wintercroft, an environmentally conscious design company specialising in helping people explore creativity through making. Produced by Yorkshire’s own ARCADE, a dynamic company based in Bridlington and Scarborough, who deliver high quality projects with some of the UK’s most exciting artists, while engaging, involving and empowering communities.
For more information on Bradford 2025’s PLAY Programme, please visit: https://bradford2025.co.uk/event/grue/
GRUE has been created by Wintercroft and ARCADE. Commissioned by Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and hosted at Damart Mill.
Rhiannon Hannon, Director of Creative Engagement and Participation at Bradford 2025 said:
“GRUE is the first of many events we’re working on as part of our year-long PLAY programme, which aims to involve children and young people in our UK City of Culture year and encourage them to play. Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture is building on an extraordinary history of play in the Bradford District by developing a programme that celebrates the universality of play as a tool to learn about ourselves, other people and the world around us.”
Rach Drew, Co-Artistic Director & CEO of ARCADE said:
“GRUE is an amazing experience that we’ve found people really respond to at a deep level, they are inspired to get creative and it captures imaginations. Being involved in Bradford 2025 is a significant moment for us at ARCADE; we’ve been running GRUE in Scarborough for the last three years where it has become a much-loved family event, continually growing in ambition, innovation and quality. We are all really looking forward to welcoming audiences to the beautiful Damart Mill to experience the biggest, most striking version of GRUE we’ve ever done.”
Jeanette Howard-Jones, Co-Managing Director, Damart UK, said:
“We are delighted to be supporting Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and welcome everyone who will be visiting us to solve the mysteries of the Damart Mill! Damart UK moved into Bowling Green Mills almost 60 years ago and it is a joy to be based somewhere with a rich history in the textile industry. This event and partnership is a wonderful collaboration between local schools and families. It is an honour for Damart to be at the heart of GRUE and we are excited for new generations to learn more about our local heritage.”