A HOST of musicians, street theatre shows and dance performances have been announced as the first acts at this year’s Bradford Festival.

The Bradford Council run event will run from July 13 to 15 in City Park, and organisers hope it will be as popular as last year, when over 150,000 attended over the three day celebration.

This year’s festival will feature 20 musical acts, 16 street theatre shows, five dance acts and over a dozen workshops.

Ivegate based arts group The Brick Box has developed an interactive piece specifically for City Park. The Little Bubblewill offer visitors a ‘spa’ experience featuring water diviners and bubble queens.

Welsh company Kitsch & Sync, return to the festival with Babs and Stella’s Intergalactic Spectacular, while Bristol-based street theatre company, Frenetic Engineering, will bring their interactive Talent Show to the city.

Audiences will be able to experience BBC Radio 4’s first venture into immersive 3D storytelling in Quake, Trapped Man by BAFTA Award-winning video production company, BDH Immersive and BBC Radio Drama North.

Up-and-coming indie folk band, Huw Eddy & The Carnival from Leeds will light up the main stage in Centenary Square, while carnival punks Buffo’s Wake promise to get festival audiences up on their feet with high energy sets containing Eastern European, Balkan, Russian folk, punk rock and cabaret. Valentino’s Street Band will play a variety of international musical styles with insatiable energy as they parade around City Park.

Anjaana, formed in the late 1970s in Bradford, will play traditional Bhangra, rustic village music using authentic Panjabi folk instruments.

The festival will offer a wide range of arts and crafts workshops.

Shipley-based internationally exhibiting artist, Morwenna Catt will set up a Viking-themed tent where people can make magical runes, an ancient script used to cast spells and provide protection in battle, and colourful flags based on Nordic myths and legends.

People will be able to create themselves in miniature in a unique crafting workshop by local arts company, Creative Flair. Everyone in the family can make and keep a rag doll that resembles themselves in creative sessions designed to send out a positive multicultural message.

Festivalgoers will also enjoy a range of fun fair rides and buy speciality foods and unique gifts from a food, drink and craft market.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Environment, Sport and Culture Portfolio Holder, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for people to come into Bradford and enjoy three days of high quality entertainment.The Bradford Festival has a rich variety of street theatre, music, dance and workshops.

“This year’s line-up looks particularly good and there should be something here for everyone. The festival is part of a programme of events and activities designed to bring people together and support economic growth in the city centre.”