BRADFORD has been chosen to take part in a Government-backed £120m national celebration of British creativity next year.

Unboxed: Creativity in the UK was originally known as Festival 2022. First mooted when Theresa May was Prime Minister it was originally intended as a showcase for British ingenuity in the wake of Brexit.

But the festival - which drew comparisons with the Festival of Britain which took place 70 years ago - has since been rebranded as a feel-good celebration of British talent.

And Bradford will be among the venues for one of the biggest and most ambitious projects.

Called StoryTrails it aims to be the world’s largest ‘immersive storytelling archive project’.

It aims to use so-called augmented reality - which will overlay computer-generated information on everyday objects and old archive films - to bring the history of Bradford to life in a new way.

StoryTrails will visit just 15 locations across the UK, including Bradford in July 2022.

Bradford Council’s Libraries Service will be taking part in the project, which will see audiences travel back in time via computer enhanced special effects to experience local events where they actually happened.

The boffins behind StoryTrails need people from the Bradford area to tell their stories and are recruiting creative talent to run the project.

Anyone interested in working with new technology such as 3D modelling software, games engines, augmented and virtual reality are encouraged to apply now. Full training will be provided alongside access to state of the art equipment, production support and production credits for the work.

Once the StoryTrails creatives have sourced and developed the stories, audiences will be guided through an immersive tour of Bradford and via a series of installations using virtual and augmented reality similar to Pokemon Go.

People will be able to experience history where it actually happened by entering the virtual story portal guided by a free mobile app.

Participants will also be immersed in a virtual map of their area, made up of 3D models, and audio stories captured on location.

StoryTrails is led by StoryFutures Academy and delivered in partnership with the British Film Institute and broadcaster and film-maker, David Olusoga. It will use cutting edge technology from Niantic, makers of Pokemon Go.

Professor David Olusoga said: “By enabling 50 diverse creative voices to create compelling stories that combine past, present and future through the magic of immersive technologies, we’ll be mapping a new path for creativity in this country. StoryTrails will set the public’s imagination alight with experiences that use the poetry of history to inspire a new vision of our future.”

Professor James Bennett, Director of StoryFutures and StoryTrails, described the project as: “A massively ambitious project as we travel across the UK to discover unknown, surprising and intriguing stories from local communities. We’re excited to bring these hidden histories to life.”

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, said: “I’m delighted Bradford has been chosen to take part in this project. It’s a fantastic opportunity for our libraries to be at the centre of new innovations in technology in telling stories from the communities which they serve.”

For further details and how to apply visit story-trails.com