An imaginative programme of Islamic art is to be included in next year's £5 million Illuminate festival.

The five cities' arts festival, which includes Bradford, will now also showcase Islamic design, calligraphy, literature, film, theatre and music.

Pillars of Light: Exploration of Muslim Cultures will be spread across Bradford, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield, and York as part of the region-wide project.

The idea for the Islamic art programme came from the director of arts company Alchemy Anew, Dr Nima Poovaya-Smith.

She said: "When people come together to share ideas, new and often better ideas emerge; when cultures come together, as they have for centuries, something transformational can happen.

"Pillars of Light will illuminate some of the rich cultural traditions and new creative responses coming out of Yorkshire, giving our diverse population new ways of finding out about different cultures as well as an excellent programme of events that everyone can enjoy."

Festival director Keith Jeffrey, said: "Illuminate is celebrating many of the creative giants to come out of Yorkshire and I hope we inspire younger generations to keep creating.

"Pillars of Light is an ambitious and fascinating exploration of the cultural chemistry that takes place when Muslim and other cultures come together and I am excited that it will attract to Yorkshire some of the world's finest artefacts and international artists who want to experiment by working together."

Events kick off on January 14 with the exhibition, Palace and Mosque: Islamic Treasures of the Middle East, at the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield.

This will be followed by Prelude: Cultural Confluences and the Collections of Bradford Museums, Galleries and Heritage, at Cartwright Hall Gallery, which aims to show how art can cut across cultures and times.

Poets and musicians with in-depth knowledge of South Asian and Western schools of music and poetry will spend a week in the city creating new work and giving live recitals in June, as part of Maha Mushaira.

The Bite the Mango Festival returns in September and will focus on ground-breaking filmmakers from Muslim countries in Asia and North Africa.

Full details of new Pillars of Light projects will be announced in spring and will include historical and contemporary art exhibitions, recitals fusing 14th Century songs from Muslim Spain with 21st Century English responses and a new play, based on The Tempest.

For information call 0870 160 2420 or visit www.illuminatefestival.com.