Bradford, one of the most diverse places in the UK, has been named City of Culture 2025, a prestigious award that attracts thousands of tourists and guarantees millions of pounds in funding and investment.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced the winner live on BBC One’s The One Show on Tuesday evening, after months of intense title competition.
Dorries said Bradford was a “worthy winner” of the 2025 title against stiff competition.
“Art and culture need to be accessible to everyone, and this prestigious title will help Bradford deliver unforgettable events for the communities at its doorstep.
“Coventry has shown us how powerful the UK culture title is to drive investment, attract visitors and leave a lasting legacy for the local people.”
Bradford25, the bidding team, tweeted: “This is our time to celebrate our extraordinary district and for our young people to become leaders and drivers of change to begin an exciting new chapter in our history.”
A record 20 initial bids from places across the UK were reduced to eight and then to four, with the final list consisting of Bradford, County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham County Borough.
Other areas of previous rounds included Cornwall, Derby, Stirling and the Armagh City district, Banbridge and Craigavon.
Bradford will take over from Coventry, which is the UK’s city of culture in 2021, with Hull and Derry enjoying status in 2017 and 2013, respectively.
For the first time, groups of people had been allowed to join to bid for the title. Another innovation in the competition was to ask contestants how they would use the culture to help their area recover from the Covid pandemic.
Bradford will receive £ 275,000 in initial funding to help the city develop its plans for 2025.
For the first time in the competition, each of the finalists will also receive a grant of £ 125,000 to support the development of key elements of their bids.
Coventry received £ 172 million in grants and investments during its year as a city of culture. The money helped fund music concerts, the UK’s first permanent immersive digital art gallery, a new children’s play area in the city center and improvements to public transport.
The judges said they were impressed by the ambition of Bradford’s bid, which celebrated the power of diversity and aimed to create new opportunities. The candidacy encouraged a strong local commitment to artists and residents, focused on creating a sense of local pride, the judges said.
Sir Phil Redmond, chairman of the independent competition advisory board, said: “The selection is never about whether one bid is better than another, it is more than one bid has the potential to have a greater and more profitable impact. I look forward to seeing how far the cultural bar can be raised[2025]. ”
The city’s cultural assets include Brontë Parish House, Saltaire, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the National Museum of Science and Media.
Bradford has a thriving Asian community and Muslims make up about a quarter of its population. One in four people in the city is under the age of 18.
Its creative communities stand out for their “energy and dynamism,” said Shanaz Gulzar, president of Bradford 2025, in promoting the city’s candidacy. A rich history, an international community and a young population made it the most compelling candidate to be the UK’s city of culture by 2025, the organization argued.
Recognition of the City of Culture would transform Bradford County into a “creative power, building on our existing cultural assets and heritage; attracting significant investment, jobs and new opportunities for all who live and work here.” “, added.
Much of Bradford’s industrial heritage, dating back to the 19th century when it was a wool and cotton manufacturing center, has become a cultural space. Salts Mill, formerly a textile factory, now houses an art gallery, a shopping mall and restaurants.
Another cultural center is the Kala Sangam Arts Center, which specializes in South Asian art. The city hosts the annual Bradford Literature Festival, which is attended by more than 70,000 people.