Bradford’s year as City of Culture got off to a spectacular start with an opening event that featured choirs, orchestras, rappers and magic from hometown hero Dynamo.
‘Rise’, held in City Park, is estimated to have attracted around 10,000 people, despite freezing temperatures.
Friday (10th) was the first of two nights of the event to kick off 12 months of arts and culture events throughout the District.
The event celebrated notable Bradford figures, but was not afraid of shying away from the District’s problems, with many of the musical numbers mentioning the city’s often poor reputation and the poverty many in Bradford experience.
As the crowd streamed into City Park it was obvious that the City of Culture title had captured the imagination of a wide variety of people, with young families rubbing shoulders with older Bradfordians and people who many may not see as the target audience for cultural events.
Starting with street poetry from Kirsty Bratfud and ending with an appearance from Steven Frayne – the magician formerly known as Dynamo, the event also included aerial acrobatics and a rapper performing from the roof of City Hall.
A choir performed on the steps of Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court while an orchestra played in One City Park, an office building overlooking the crowd.
There had been some uncertainty leading up to the event – a week of freezing temperatures led to some questions whether it would go ahead.
But the thousands who attended followed advice to wrap up warm, and the cold seemed to have little impact on visitor numbers.
Musical numbers performed during the event urged the people of Bradford to rise above others’ perceptions of the District and embrace where they were from.
It also embraced the city’s history and diversity.
Lights, acrobatics and projections turned the quite basic stage set up into an ever changing canvas – a row of terraced houses one minute and backdrop for famous Bradfordians the next.
Although Steven Frayne/Dynamo had helped plan for the event, an appearance from the world famous magician had been kept a secret until the event.
When he did appear he told the crowd how proud he was to be from Bradford, and how he bigged up the city wherever he went.
Looking out at the thousands in attendance he said: “I’ve made so many memories in Bradford – this is probably my favourite of all.”
By: Chris Young, LDRS
