CITY Park in Bradford has been transformed into a food, drink and music paradise for the weekend as part of the Summer Unlocked programme.

Over 10 Street-food vendors and live music artists have gathered in the centre of the city for a family-friendly event, with both open-air and covered seating areas.

The event started today and is due to run until Sunday, August 1.

The global cuisine on offer ranges from curried goat at JJ’s Caribbean, to the famous brownies of the Savvy Baker based in Leeds, whose business took off during the pandemic.

Aaron Archibald, 24, who works for The Savvy Baker said: “It’s good to see the world coming back together, coming back to reality and celebrating food. We’re expecting a busy weekend.”

The event took off this afternoon, and despite the miserable weather, it didn’t stop Victoria Taylor, 45 who works in the city, as she said she had been waiting for her curried goat from JJ’s Caribbean all day.

Nicola Greenan, lead for cultural partnerships for Bradford Council said: “The Food and Drink Weekender is the perfect way to launch the Summer Unlocked programme, right here in the heart of Bradford. Bradford is a vibrant, creative, and welcoming city, and what better way to demonstrate that, than to bring people together in this unique space?"

The event hopes to rival popular venues in Leeds and Manchester, but with an authentic Bradford twist by combining the music of classical South Asian Ghazals and Qawwali with traditional Arabic calligraphy visual performances.

Bradford-born David Hall, 42, said he will be there every night enjoying the music and trying out all of the different foods with a pint in his hand at The Summer Garden.

Portfolio Holder for Healthy People & Places at Bradford Council, Councillor Sarah Ferriby, said “This Summer, we want families and residents across the district to feel empowered to get out and about and explore the fantastic public spaces we have here in Bradford.

The Summer Unlocked Food and Drink Weekender will welcome people back into the city centre as City Park is brought to life with food and drink from around the world, live music, and the sound of many people, sharing moments of joy with friends and family.”

Shannen Bagaria, 28, owner of Honest Supper Club, a plant-based stall agreed: “It’s really nice to do an event in Bradford and it’s nice to be doing pop-ups again. I think that it will bring the community together and get really busy.”