THE second Bradford Literature Festival has proven to be a truly fantastic event and full credit should be given to everyone involved.

From beginning to end, it has attracted nothing but praise for both the calibre of the events it has hosted and the quality of participants it has attracted.

The festival has come an incredibly long way in just 12 months, and it has been attracting plaudits that many more established and longer-running festivals would be delighted with.

Hopefully the level of success this year will see this event firmly established on the literary calendar and will enable it to continue to attract such a high calibre of performers.

It will also be good to see the level of funding it has received this year matched in the future, as this is an event that really does put the city on the map and will bring in visitors not normally likely to come here.

This year’s festival has really shown people what the city is capable of, and there is no reason for more cultural events of this ilk not to be brought here in the future.

And let us not forget that this festival has also played a role in encouraging children to pick up books through a series of events involving schools.

In the meantime, massive kudos to organisers Syima Aslam and Irna Qureshi, who have truly created an event for the district to be proud of.

Let’s hope the Arts Council will continue to provide the support this fantastic event deserves to really establish itself as an important date in the literary calendar.