Cooking up thrills on a global scale in Centenary Square (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Cooking up thrills on a global scale in Centenary Square

7:00am Saturday 2nd June 2012 in News By Tanya O'Rourke

A culinary celebration in Bradford was a feast for the senses as visitors to Centenary Square enjoyed food and music from around the world.

The Global Food Friday event yesterday saw families sitting in the square enjoying the treats on offer from a range of vendors.

Performers played music throughout the day on a specially-erected stage, while passers-by joined in and took part in dancing.

Lord Mayor of Bradford Councillor Dale Smith, who opened the event, said: “It’s another magical success for Bradford, seeing the diversity and variety of food stalls, getting people mixing together. While we haven’t got sunshine, clearly our hearts are full of sunshine.”

Event organiser Katherine Canoville, of Matik Productions, said: “I’m really pleased, finally it’s come together, I’m really buzzing, we’ve got some great stuff. It’s to celebrate the diverse cultures in Bradford, we’ve got so many organisations all doing their different stalls of food. It helps bring people together and educate people about what’s out there. We’ve got culturally diverse performers to celebrate the countries involved.”

The Oriental Arts group - who are behind the launch of the Bradford Mela - helped organise the entertainment which included reggae, folk and indie music.

Zouk, Tio’s Snack Shack, Napoleon’s Casino and Restaurant and Pizza Pieces were among the businesses hosting stalls at the event.

Charities including the Bradford Metropolitan Food Bank were also represented. Frances Atkins, of the organisation, said: “I think it’s a fantastic event because it gives the chance to everybody to introduce themselves to more of the community and for us, it helps us to reach more people to help us with our charity. It’s good to get our name out there and make people more aware.

“There’s a good variety of people and people will hopefully support the stall holders, that will be terrific.”

Gloria Hartley, who was taking in the atmosphere at the event, said: “We’re just having a look, it’s something different. We’re going to stay for about half an hour.

“I’ve brought my family along to see what’s going on.”