BRADFORD city centre was bursting with life over the weekend as thousands of people flocked to Bradford Festival.

The three-day event, which got into full swing on Friday, featured various musicians, street performers and activities entertaining the crowds.

Local talent topped the bill, with a number of performers, actors, and musicians from the Bradford district performing at the festival, complemented by a selection of performance groups from around the UK and abroad to entertain the crowds.

Events took place around City Park and the Mirror Pool, as well as on the festival’s main stage in Centenary Square, and at the festival funfair in Tyrrel Street, and in Norfolk Gardens.

A number of artists and musicians took to the stage to entertain the crowds, including Bradford’s own Hoodoo Operators, and Analog Bombs, along with Delhi sensation The Ska Vengers, and the Cable Street Collective.

Around City Park, stiltwalkers The Cake Ladies entertained crowds, along with Markmark Productions’ hilarious HMS Punafore, All at Sea by Acrojou, performed by a drenched actor in the Mirror Pool, Sense-o-Matic by Same Difference Arts, and Bedraggled, by the Kitsch & Sync Collective.

Artist Lou Sumray brought her signature style of charcoal drawing to City Park, capturing the events unfolding around her, and brought along an extra easel to allow passers-by to get involved and create their own masterpieces.

Yesterday also saw the premiere of Ice Cream: The Opera, written by the Bard of Barnsley Ian McMillan, which was performed in City Park.

The opera, commissioned by Bradford-based Freedom Studios and Skipton Building Society Camerata, tells the love story of Romano and Geetha, who hail from two warring ice cream van families.

In Norfolk Gardens and in Tyrrel Street, a number of different fairground rides and attractions were set up, including bungee trampolines, dodgems, and other rides.

There truly was something for everyone at the festival, with music ranging from rock to folk, opera, classical and fusions of them all, along with comedy, contemporary and colourful acrobatics.

Bradford’s acclaimed disability theatre group Mind the Gap staged Mirror Mirror, which explored the life experiences of people considered ‘different’ in society, created alongside Liverpool based theatre company Kazimier.

Alongside the varied performances taking place in the city centre, there were also a range of workshops allowing people to get involved and create their own works of art.

Children could learn the science behind the perfect paper aeroplane, take the lead role in storytelling workshops, learn energetic Bollywood dance routines, unleash their inner rock’n’roll star, and learn how to make sand sculptures.