Hundreds of families will celebrate the festive season at a huge Christmas festival on the Holme Wood estate.

The free family-friendly festival will bring carol singers, market stalls, photo opportunities and much more to St Christopher's Church and TFD Centre.

The first-of-its-kind event will bring arts and culture to the heart of the estate – featuring undercover poets, dancers and musicians.

More than 600 people are expected to attend the festivities between 3pm and 7pm on Thursday, December 15.

Lauren Batty, one of the event’s organisers, said: “We are three local organisations - The Sutton Centre, OutLOUD and United Art Project - who have teamed up to create opportunities and offer new artistic and cultural experiences for the BD4 community. 

“Throughout 2022 we’ve seen lots of creative endeavours and discovered that the people of Holme Wood are very talented artists and creative people. This project has supported 23 local creatives aged eight to 65 through our Creative Cash Awards and now brings you Holme Wood Christmas Festival.

“This estate is special and that’s because of its people. Together we made this happen.”

Kayle McCoy, founder of United Art Project, said: “St Christopher's Church usually puts on a small Christmas event at this time of year and so we decided to join forces maximise the opportunity. It has been a wonderful experience as we had other organisations and charities come on board and offer some really fun and inclusive activities.

“The event has grown so big that we have also been kindly gifted the use of the TFD from the Bradford Council youth service - so we have lots of different things for all age groups and you can even nip in to see the new Holme Wood Library.

 “This is a big event and we are pulling out all the stops to make sure that the 650+ residents that have booked onto the festival have a smashing time for a few hours.”

The National Literacy Trust will be bringing the Story Bus to BD4 where children can find out what Santa's elves are reading.

Valley Crafts will be helping people make Christmas tree decorations and some yummy seasonal treats.

The Jingle Bell Rock hopes to get under 10s dancing and singing along to some of the world’s favourite Christmas anthems.

Meanwhile face painting and the biscuit decorating stall will unlock people’s creative side.

The grand finale will see St Christopher’s Community Choir perform much-loved Christmas carols.

Food and drink on offer includes free kids' packed lunches, fresh soup and rolls at St Christopher's, a surprise hotpot at TFD, a chip butty from Nigel’s Chippy and festive hot chocolates.

Lauren added: “We want to say a huge thank you to The Leap and Arts Council England for making this project possible by investing in The Holme Wood Collective as part of the Bradford-wide cultural investment programme called ‘Creative People and Places’.

“Thank you to all partners in particular St Christopher's Church and Bradford South’s Area Coordinators Office, for seeing our vision and helping to make it happen and Incommunities, The Sutton Centre, The Community Shop, Morrisons, Tescos and Asda for contributing towards the food.”

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