THE streets of Ilkley town centre are set to come alive this weekend with family friendly activities and performances at the Ilkley Family Takeover event.

The Ilkley Family Takeover event which takes place on Saturday, March 26 between 10am and 8pm will have puzzles and games in the form of giant Jenga and giant jigsaws, face-painting, sword fighting demonstrations as well as performances from the comedy waiters and much more.

The Party People Project, a Bradford district-based learning disability led collective, will keeping the party vibe going with a live two hour DJ set.

Tea, coffee and cakes will be served up by Ilkley community café Outside The Box.

Artist Pete Olding will also lead a team of artists to create temporary artworks on the streets. The team will paint ‘live’ while engaging people with the process. Images will be figurative, vibrant and colourful and incorporate poems created in workshops.

As the evening draws in a huge magical lantern puppet in the shape of the Ilkley’s legendry giant Rombald, will take to the streets for two performances.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “I’m delighted that we have been able to fund these events to help people to rediscover all that’s great about their local high street.”

Eddie from Raven Staging who is organising the event, said: “We’ll be bringing a joyful selection of performances to Ilkley’s streets this Saturday and we can’t wait. The sun looks to be blessing us with its presence once again. We hope you and your family do the same.”

The event which takes place throughout the town centre is being organised by Raven Staging Ltd in collaboration with Bradford Council as part a series of events for the Council’s Spring Back 2022 campaign.

All the events are part of Bradford Council’s Spring Back 2022 campaign thanks to the Welcome Back Fund, which is funding from the England European Regional Development Fund.

For more details visit www.visitbradford.com/springback2022.aspx

Ilkley Literature Festival’s Story Explorer Day is also taking place in Ilkley on Saturday, March 26. Look out for author events, interactive sessions, story-telling and drop-in sessions. For more information about this event and booking and ticketing details visit: https://www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk/whats-on

Ilkley’s regular Saturday market will also be taking place on The Grove on the same day.

The Bradford district is currently one of four shortlisted places in the running to be the next UK City of Culture 2025.