A three-day mini-arts festival featuring an explosion of music, art and entertainment bursts into life in Bradford today.

Reflections Arts Festival, which runs until Saturday night, will see some of the city’s leading artists perform.

Headlining the event is Bradford’s award-winning theatre company Mind The Gap, which will perform its critically-acclaimed Irresistible in City Park on Saturday at 5.30pm.

The show, created by composer, musician and performer Jez Colbourne, combines music, theatre, film and sirens to tell the story of a man on a dramatic journey.

It was performed as part of the Cultural Olympiad both in Bradford and at the Southbank in London last year.

Visitors to the free event on Saturday will also see Cubism, which combines live performance painting with percussion and spoken words.

All four sides of a spinning cube are painted by artist, Mohammed Ali, in front of a live audience while a percussionist and poet jam together.

There will also be opportunities for people to talk to the artists, write poetry and stories and take part in photography, carving, Islamic calligraphy and mask-making workshops.

Impressions Gallery will stage a selection of photographs from Bradford Is, an exhibition which records the opinions of people who live and work in the city.

People will be able to write their thoughts on cards and have their picture taken in a photo booth in the gallery. These will be projected on City Park’s big screen.

Starting the festival today at Bradford Cathedral is the national championship-winning brass band Black Dyke and Pennine Chimes, Bradford’s women-only barbershop choir, in a show entitled Brass Chimes.

Tickets are available from Bradford Visitor Information Centre and Bradford Cathedral for £4 and £6.

Tomorrow, between 4.30pm and 8.30pm, Kala Sangam will host Y-Culture, an event to help young people explore Bradford’s cultural opportunities. Artists Jamie Wardley, Javaad Alipoor and Sofia Maskin will share their experiences and encourage the teenagers to get involved in the arts. And Bradford band Man Can’t Fly will perform.

The event is free and places can be reserved by ringing (01274) 432416 or e-mailing karen.lewis@bradford.gov.uk.