Thousands attend City of Culture opening event

An estimated 10,000 people celebrated the start of Bradford's year as City of Culture at an open-air show starring magician Steven Frayne, formerly known as Dynamo.

The event titled Rise, which went ahead despite temperatures of -3C (26.6F), will be repeated on Saturday - but organisers said tickets had already sold out.

The show involved a cast of 200, including 10-year-old rapper Cruzy T, poet Kirsty Taylor, a live orchestra, musicians and dancers.

Bradford 2025 creative director Shanaz Gulzar said the event had shown that the city was "incredibly diverse, representative, resilient and strong, and capable of doing magical, impossible things".

Teo Hawran, 68, who was among the crowd with his wife Valerie, said: "I didn't know what to expect but when you see the amount of people turning up today it's good for Bradford."

"It made me proud to be from Bradford, for once," Valerie said.

Kala Sangam creative director Alex Croft, 46, who was attending the event with friends, said he hoped the City of Culture would put Bradford on the map.

"Hopefully it will achieve what it aims to, which is that people across the district will get inspired by art and culture and the world is going to sit up and take note of Bradford and who we are," he said.

Ms Gulzar said she was "super proud" and that the title was "huge for the city".

"Bradford's a northern mill city and like every other northern mill city, it's had to find its new identity," she said.

"It brings attention, it brings investment, it brings opportunity and ... it's our time."

The City of Culture scheme is designed to boost a city's visitor numbers, economies and reputations, and Bradford's year has received £15m in government funding.

Arts Council England chief executive Darren Henley told BBC Radio 5 Live that City of Culture would have a lasting impact.

He said: "It may be really cold but this is the hottest place to be in terms of culture."

Previous cities of culture have included Hull, Coventry and Derry.

Henley added: "I lived in Hull - it changed the way people felt about the place."

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