THIS year has shown Bradford as a true City of Culture.

Recent news that over 20,000 people enjoyed November’s city centre light spectacular brings the curtain down on what has been a crucial year for culture in Bradford.

The flagship city centre events were part of the magnificent festival of light - Bradford is Lit - which saw eye-catching installations installed across the district, from a glowing ball of giant yarn in Haworth to illuminated typography atop inner-city mosques.

Bradford is Lit was a hint of what a successful UK City of Culture bid can bring to the district and, perhaps more importantly, its universal popularity has been a huge endorsement of our cultural ambitions so far.

Those ambitions were given an important boost right at the start of 2021, when Culture was included as one of the four main workstreams of Bradford’s post-Covid Economic Recovery Plan.

The plan puts a successful UK City of Culture bid at the heart of a rejuvenated town and city centre offer, and makes firm commitments to training and job creation in the sector.

Just a couple of months later, Bradford’s new 10-year cultural strategy - Culture is our Plan - would go even further with its ambition to bring culture to every nook and cranny of the district when it was formally adopted by the Council.

As well as grand plans and strategies, there has been action too.

March saw the return of Response – a rapid grant programme to fund artists, creatives, and other community groups who, in turn, brought joy and entertainment to the city with a particular focus on families who have had to homeschool during the pandemic.

Around the same time, one of the district’s flagship cultural regeneration projects - Bradford Live - began construction on the new 4,000-capacity live music and entertainment venue at the former Odeon building, offering a glimpse of what we can look forward to when it opens at the end of next year.

Construction began just as another city cultural gem - Thornton’s South Square Centre - was reopening its doors following a huge Lottery-funded refurbishment.

As well as the big cultural bricks and mortar, 2021 has also seen an explosion of grassroots culture across Bradford, with eye-catching art installations brightening up walls in BD1, cable boxes in BD10 - and even a vast car park ramp in Keighley Town Centre.

The latter - Ramp Revamp - was funded as part of Summer: Unlocked, which saw neighbourhoods brought to life through culture during the warmer months.

Summer of this year also saw the glitzy premier of Make: Film, a Bradford 2025-backed programme to fund budding movie-makers across the city, with their creations being screened at the National Science and Media Museum.

Culture has been everywhere, and for everyone in Bradford this year, and of course it’s been a huge year for our City of Culture bid too.

In October, it was announced that Bradford had made the longlist of eight cities, whittled down from a record 20 entrants, and the bid team is now working tirelessly to get us on the coveted shortlist in 2022.

We end the year with some uncertainty as to what early 2022 may bring for Bradford, with additional restrictions and concerns about Covid in our communities. But one thing we can be certain of is our firm commitment to culture.

It will be a year when major town and city centre developments get off the ground; when new exhibitions and new festivals come to Bradford; when more opportunities to fund creatives across the city are realised; and when, ultimately, we may be crowned as the next UK City of Culture.

After a successful 2021 in culture, the world is watching what Bradford does next. We’re ready to show them that we mean business.

l Do you have something to shout about? If you’d like to write on this page about something you feel passionately about, a project you’re involved with, or anything else that interests you, email: emma.clayton@nqyne.co.uk