Bradford is home to vibrant, authentic story-telling and proud multi-cultural communities. We’ll be drawing on this rich history to bring people together through the joy and celebration of the arts, poetry, film, comedy and much, much more. It’s a huge honour to be a part of a legacy that will no doubt attract thousands of tourists and millions of pounds of investment to this outstanding city.
Today, the BBC is announcing it will be an official broadcast partner of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. This means there will be unforgettable coverage across BBC local and national TV, BBC iPlayer, Radio, BBC Sounds and Online bringing audiences together to celebrate Bradford.
The BBC is also commissioning a raft of new content across arts, education, and factual for the city’s momentous year.
The BBC is committed to supporting Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture throughout the year and further announcements about new programming, events and coverage of the celebrations will follow.
BBC Director-General Tim Davie has hailed what he described as a fantastic opportunity to showcase the creativity in Bradford.
He says: “Bradford is home to vibrant, authentic story-telling and proud multi-cultural communities.
“We’ll be drawing on this rich history to bring people together through the joy and celebration of the arts, poetry, film, comedy and much, much more.
“It’s a huge honour to be a part of a legacy that will no doubt attract thousands of tourists and millions of pounds of investment to this outstanding city.”
Katrina Bunker, BBC Head of Yorkshire, says: “2025 promises to be an extraordinary year for Bradford. The BBC is the best place to capture all the excitement, ambition and energy that UK City of Culture will bring to the region.
“We’ll have coverage of the build-up and all the big moments across our online services, radio and TV. It’s going to be a very exciting year.”
Shanaz Gulzar, Creative Director Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, says: “The UK City of Culture puts all eyes on this incredible region, and with the BBC’s support we are showing off what a fantastic place it is. Iconic programmes like Countryfile will profile the rurality of the district and the in-depth education programme with Bitesize invests in our young people.
“But this is just a taste of what’s to come and is a mark of the network’s commitment to Bradford, showcasing its people and the district to the UK and the world.”
BBC programming and events coming to Bradford include:
Children’s and Education
- BBC Bitesize is offering every mainstream secondary school in the Bradford district the Bitesize Careers Tour. Organised and delivered by BBC Education, the careers tour is a chance to inspire the young people of Bradford on their futures. Working closely with the Bradford City of Culture team, the panel style careers roadshow will feature representatives from the organisation and from a variety of local businesses across the district who will share their professional insights. The events will be hosted by a range of BBC talent including Jasmine Takhar from BBC Asian Network and Fee Mak from BBC Radio 1Xtra.
- BBC Teach is filming for one of their Live Lessons in Bradford in 2025. Live Lessons bring subjects to life for primary schools and feature some of the BBC’s biggest brands and presenters. Teachers can check the BBC Teach website for the latest schedule during the autumn term.
- My Life on CBBC on BBC iPlayer is a critically acclaimed documentary series, featuring incredible children with amazing, inspiring and thought-provoking stories. In 2025, two episodes will focus on children from Bradford. My Life: The Fastest Boy in the World [WT] follows Alfie, a ten-year-old who says his ADHD and autism help him focus when it comes to his passion of motorbike racing as he sets to break a new land speed world record. My Life: Neza Bazi [WT] features Bradford-based 11-year-old Jaleel and 15-year-old Subhaan, part of a new generation of British horse riders taking up NezaBazi, a highly competitive sport which involves galloping at full speed using a long spear to strike wooden pegs in the ground.
TV
- The Read – Wuthering Heights from BBC Arts. The Read on BBC Four and iPlayer brings to life two gothic classics. Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, the brooding love story of Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw set in the West Yorkshire Moors will be read by Bradford-born Vinette Robinson and directed by Rachel Lambert; while Robert Louis Stephenson’s thought-provoking Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde will be filmed in Bradford. It will be directed by Yorkshire-born Keiran Stringfellow.
- Dance Passion Bradford on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. Dancers, choreographers and troupes, both professional and enthusiast, use pavements and landmarks as their stages to perform exciting work and showcase Bradford and surrounding areas. Expect all forms of dance to be represented, from ballet to ballroom, contemporary to cutting edge. Following the successes of Dance Passion Liverpool and the forthcoming Dance Passion Swansea, this will be Bradford’s moment to shine and bring dance to the screen.
- Countryfile on BBC One and BBC iPlayer is having a special Bradford episode to explore the cultural history and influence the city has had on its surrounding countryside.
- Bargain Hunt on BBC One and BBC iPlayer will be uncovering treasures from the city in a special Bradford episode.
Comedy
- BBC New Comedy Awards are Britain’s biggest comedy talent search, with an average of 1,500 entries per year. The BBC New Comedy Awards are our main pipeline to discovering new diverse comedy voices from all corners of the UK. Entrants are whittled down over a series of non-broadcast showcases, before thirty performers are chosen to perform in six regional heats which are held in towns and cities in Northern Ireland, Wales & the West, the Midlands, the South, the North of England and Scotland. The Grand Final in 2025 will be hosted in Bradford, where six finalists will compete to be crowned BBC New Comedian 2025 and take home the prize of a scripted commission, £1,000 cash, plus a chance to perform live on Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day 2026.
- BBC Comedy Grants, now in their second year, are small grants given to 10 groups, organisations or charities from across the UK who are working on inclusion and development projects for those passionate about working in comedy. This year two grants have been ring-fenced for Bradford-based projects; the first is a Bradford comedy group, The South Asian Comedy Collective, which hosts a comedy new material night for members of the local community. With the proceeds of the grant they will be organising a new event called the Mega South-Asian Comedy Night, that will take place in Bradford towards the end of 2024. The second is Theatre in the Mill, a Bradford-based arts organisation committed to developing, supporting and presenting socially responsible art and performance. They will be organising comedy workshops for women to develop their comedy skills and act as an experimental space for developing new comedy tropes.
Audio
- Front Row - on BBC Radio 4, Nick Ahad is to present a BBC Radio 4 Front Row Bradford Special in January 2025 to kick off the New Year looking at some of the upcoming highlights of the city of culture and speaking to the artists taking part.
- BBC Contains Strong Language (CSL) - the UK’s biggest poetry and performance festival for new writing. As well as bringing key national, local and International BBC radio programmes to Bradford, the festival will bring together a cast of the most exciting poets from across the UK for a series of free events, workshops and talks across the long weekend – Thursday September 18 – Sunday 21 September 2025.
- Born in Bradford is a long running annual Radio 4 series following the team behind one of the world’s most important longitudinal studies. They track thousands of babies born in the city and analyse a range of data collected from them and their families. Now those babies are teenagers and the BBC team of Winifred Robinson and Sue Mitchell have been with the young people as they enter this new phase of life. The researchers explore a wide range of aspects of mental and physical health and wellbeing. The young people are partners in this, sharing their thoughts about what might help and developing new approaches across all of the city’s secondary schools. The BBC has partnered with doctors, parents, teachers, specialists and the 14,000 youngsters to bring unique insights across all groups in this diverse and important city.
BBC Academy
- The BBC Young Reporter Festival is back for 2025, coming live from Bradford. Over the two days we’ll line up some of the best working in the creative industries particularly from Yorkshire to meet and share their experiences with our young people. We plan to invite script writers, producers, journalists, commissioners, presenters, actors and influencers all giving young people (11-18’s) the low down on what it’s like working in front and behind the camera and what it takes to succeed in the creative industry. The festival is a partnership between BBC Academy, BBC News and BBC Teach.’
Local
- BBC Radio Leeds is at the centre of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture 2025 celebrations bringing special programmes and events straight into people’s homes throughout the year - telling the story of the people of Bradford and uncovering what makes and shapes the city. The most moments will also be available on demand via BBC Sounds.
- BBC Look North will be there in the middle of the celebrations throughout Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, delivering the latest news and stories that matter to local audiences and beyond.
- BBC News Online will be covering the events and moments of the year with the best coverage to be found on bbc.co.uk/Bradford
The BBC is committed to supporting Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 throughout the year and further announcements about new content, events and coverage of the celebrations will follow.
NS
