THE countdown is on to this year's Bradford Festival bursting to life in City Park.

The action kicks off on Friday and will run until Sunday, with this year's festival promising to be the "best yet".

The programme features no less than 21 music acts, 20 street theatre shows, three dance pieces and 15 workshops.

Music highlights include celebrated British Electronic-fusion six-piece, The Electric Swing Circus, multi award-winning singer-songwriter and powerhouse of blues and rock, Chantel McGregor, and 80s Two Tone legends, The Beat Goes Bang.

Lively British Folk duo, Noble Jacks; award winning, British-Asian clarinettist, composer and bandleader, Arun Ghosh; and Bournemouth-based folk-fusion band, Black Water County will also grace the festival’s main stage.

Since its launch in 2013, the Bradford Festival has built a reputation for staging quirky cutting-edge street theatre.

Celebrated Cumbrian street theatre troupe, Fairly Famous Family bring their hilarious 60s and 70s rolling buffet, Kitsch Kafé.

Exuberant all-women street theatre troupe, Circo Rum Ba Ba will stage L’Hotel - an enchanting show incorporating acrobatics, circus-style globe walking, French finesse, trumpeting and mime mayhem.

SEED by Sheffield-based theatre group, Pif Paf features the company’s trademark blend of humour, pathos, science and renowned design in a show starring a Rockabilly Tree-Planting Anarcho-Nomad and a giant snail.

Skeleton-Elvis will return from the dead with his glamorous rockabilly wife, Grisella in SkElvis and Grisella Ain’t Dead by hilarious Bradford outdoor theatre company, Giddy Kipper Arts.

Towering stilt walking Dragons, a grizzly troll and a giant chicken will roam City Park seeking out unsuspecting punters to surprise and delight.

Dance lovers will be treated to extraordinarily beautiful Indian temple dancing from celebrated British dance company, Annapurna Dance; a playful and funny male-female duet by international touring British dance company, Motionhouse; and an interactive Time Machine Disco where audiences release their inner rebel with award-winning troupe, Glass House Dance.

There will be stacks of great activities and workshops to suit all ages including opportunities for visitors to unlock their inner rock star with the Bradford School of Rock and Media, Oriental lantern making with professional Chinese artist, Ping Kelly, and hat and mask making with master puppet maker, Cecil Green Arts.

And people can make their very own superhero cuffs, capes, masks, gliders and shields, create beautiful personalised jewellery or upcycle almost anything at specialist workshops with highly skilled local artists.

Bradford Festival runs from July 12 to 14 in City Park. Entry is free.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Healthy People and Places Portfolio Holder, said: “We are all really excited about this year’s Bradford Festival which promises to be the best yet.

“The 2019 programme is packed with brilliant things to see and do, and the incredibly diverse programme offers rich and varied experience. Admission is free and everyone is welcome.”