This year's Bradford Festival, the first to be organised by national company UZ operating as the Bradford International Festival Company (who had only eight months to do the job) was widely regarded as something of a disappointment. It had a lower profile than previous festivals. There seemed to be less activity in the streets and fewer events generally. There were complaints that schools had not been involved as much as they could have been and that some organisations were deterred from taking part in the Mela by high charges for stalls.
A popular view, not discouraged by the Bradford Festival Company team who had lost the contract to UZ, was that the festival had been snatched away from the people of Bradford and put into the hands of outsiders. That has led now to the launch of a Reclaim Bradford Festival campaign.
However, if there is to be any reclaiming it will have to wait for two years until the expiry of the new contract - which members of the Council's Regeneration and Culture Scrutiny Committee believe is flawed.
There are two more festivals to be organised in that time. If they are organised amid an atmosphere of division and resentment, the chances of them dispelling the disappointment caused by this year's event are likely to be diminished.
The scrutiny committee has done its job and taken a long, hard look at a controversial issue. Its report is critical but it is also constructive. It suggests that all interested parties - and that includes the general public of Bradford - should work together to ensure the success of next year's event. That would seem, for the time being at least, to be the only realistic option.
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