PEOPLE could get a high-tech glimpse into the future if Bradford is chosen to host a multi-million-pound celebration of the North.

There would be virtual reality experiences, wearable technology and a team of ‘Futurenauts’ guiding visitors around the city, if Bradford wins an open contest to host the Government’s Great Exhibition of the North in 2018.

The bid document handed to exhibition board chairman Sir Gary Verity this week shows the ambitious plans being put forward by Bradford Council and the National Media Museum, which would be the anchor host.

The bid, dubbed ‘Futurescope’, sets out plans for a £16 million event spanning the city centre, from Bradford University to Bradford Cathedral, with £5m coming from the Government and the rest being funded from other sources.

It says visitors to the exhibition could bring around £38m into Bradford’s economy and a further £23.8m into the wider economy of the North. The focus of activity would be around City Park and the Media Museum.

“We plan to create covered walkways between the main locations, and, as part of the exhibition’s thematic exploration of transport, we will investigate the use of zip wires, futuristic transport and other ways of moving people around," it says.

The underpass linking City Park to the Media Museum would be transformed by architects and artists “to create a gradual threshold taking visitors from their world to ours”.

There would be three exhibitions at the Media Museum, including one called Alchemy which would invite people to “experience the future”.

The bid says the culmination of the exhibition journey would be “a mind-blowing experiential space immersing visitors in a visceral series of hopeful and dystopian future scenarios, delivered through a combination of virtual and augmented reality headsets and projection mapped mixed-reality environments”.

Leeds City Council has backed Bradford’s bid, with leader Judith Blake saying Bradford would be “a superb venue”.

The leader of Bradford Council Susan Hinchcliffe said: “Locating the Great Exhibition of the North in the city has the power to showcase Bradford as a diverse, modern and vibrant global city, giving a strong and positive message and acting as a role model for the rest of the UK.”