CULTURE

As this magazine went to print, Bradford had made it to the final four of the UK City of Culture competition. The city is now competing with County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham County Borough for the coveted title for 2025. The four finalists have been whittled down from a record 20 bids, where all were asked how they would use culture to grow and strengthen their area and recover from the pandemic. Winning the title brings benefits including higher employment, new investment, a boost to skills levels, and greater confidence. The last two cities to host the designation – Hull and Coventry – both saw significant boosts to investment in various areas, including regeneration, transport, culture and the arts, and hospitality and leisure. Bradford has already been cited in a government report as the place to benefit most from the ‘Levelling Up’ agenda. West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, like most other organisations in the city, is now willing Bradford on to take that final step. Mike Cartwright, from the Chamber Policy & Representation team, said: "Well done to the bid team on ensuring that we made it onto the short list. They’ve done a great job so far. We’re now holding our breath again until we get across the finish line in this game-changer of a competition.” Build-up to Bradford’s bid for the prize has included an increased confidence in the creative sector: £2 million for ‘The Leap’, the city’s Creative People and Places programme; £1.5 million for ‘Bradford Producing Hub’ (a four-year project to support the production of live arts); recently launched ‘The Unit’ (a filmmakers’ resource backed by Channel 4 to generate a greater film production sector. David Wilson, Director of Bradford City of Film, said: “It’s a genuine team effort from many partners, businesses and individuals across Bradford district. It’s news we will be sharing with our UNESCO partners right across the world who know Bradford well as a UNESCO City of Film.”

Bradford culture bid gets closer