[obligatory ‘Aforementioned City? culture? Are you having a laugh?’ comment]
I wonder how long “certain people” will take to comment here.
I’ve always found Bradford to be genuinely very nice whenever I’ve visited, undeserving of the reputation it has. Hope this does good for them.
Bradford has a nice local theatre, which is sadly missing in most cities that aren’t the ‘main’ cities now. It also has a very good number of exceptional (mostly indian) restaurants. Shame about the train service though.
Eventually, every UK city will have been UK City of Culture.
Only experience I have of Bradford is that there seems to be a greater amount of terrible drivers there.
Well this is interesting. A part of me wants to roll my eyes (Red Wall…). But Bradford seems like it could do with a boost, there’s SO much potential which is unused. Plus, per the article, a youthful city with a history of creativity.
It’s Asian population is only another positive thing, this is one thing that the Arts are for: bringing people together.
Seems a much better choice than the two previous ones, Hull and Coventry.
This is rich, considering it wasn’t that long ago when the V&A museum took the Bradford Film & Photography Museum archives for itself:
They cut you in half with a machinegun, and then give you a Band-Aid.
Well hopefully any visitor won’t try driving there, it’s basically mad max with a much higher fatality rate.
Excellent choice. Probably the uks most slept on city.
Oh dear. Southampton where I live was bidding for it as well.
Good for them, shame for us
I’ve never visited but all I’ve ever read about Bradford is about its legions of kiddy fiddlers and the fact it is a shithole.
So please educate me should I add Bradford to my list of places to see in the UK? Have I been mislead?
This is your reminder that a major part of UK City of Culture is highlighting places that normally get overlooked by people and boosting the profile of its host. See Hull and Coventry as examples
Must admit the alambra is probably one of the very few redeeming features of Bradford. Always enjoyed a show there. Got my first kiss there too so maybe biased.
I used to go on monthly curry nights years ago around Leeds and Bradford. Mumtaz Paan House in Bradford remains the best I’ve experienced. Pricey but we’ll worth it.
Can’t really argue with this too much – Hull is and was a shithole, but does have interesting and genuine culture if you can persevere. Bradford is much the same, but with the addition of horrific amounts of every imaginable road crime
Cue the usual Badford, Bragford, Dragford, Madford, Dadford and Brad Pittford comments.
From Coventry to Bradford, oh nonononono, ohnononononono
(For reference my dad lived there for work for a while when he was younger and bore witness to several racially motivated clashes)
I live there, so it’s well deserved.
What the heck, have any of these people actually been to Bradford? As someone who works in Bradford, the only thing I want to do is leave. It’s an absolute ****hole.
Plenty of culture in Bradford, none of it British though
Bradford is one of the dirtiest cities I’ve ever been, shortly followed by Birmingham. Absolute dives.
Bradford shouldn’t win anything, it’s a dump.
“Bradford’s role in life is to make every place else in the world look better in comparison, and it does this very well.”
Bill Bryson, Notes from a Small Island
I used to go on monthly curry nights years ago around Leeds and Bradford. Mumtaz Paan House remains the best I’ve experienced. Pricey but we’ll worth it.
Nooooo I wanted Southampton to get it…
I visited Bradford for an event at the uni in 2018. There was this huge pedestrianised square which I thought was nice.
Is anyone going to point out the elephant in the room, namely that Bradford is about as racially/religiously segregated as it’s possible for a British city to get? It’s hard to be a City of Culture when a good third of the city in question adheres to a totally different culture.
How was the effect on Liverpool, Hull and Coventry? I remember seeing all the banners for it in Liverpool in the years leading up to it, but I wasn’t there to see what effect it had on the area by 2008 or beyond.
29 comments
[obligatory ‘Aforementioned City? culture? Are you having a laugh?’ comment]
I wonder how long “certain people” will take to comment here.
I’ve always found Bradford to be genuinely very nice whenever I’ve visited, undeserving of the reputation it has. Hope this does good for them.
Bradford has a nice local theatre, which is sadly missing in most cities that aren’t the ‘main’ cities now. It also has a very good number of exceptional (mostly indian) restaurants. Shame about the train service though.
Eventually, every UK city will have been UK City of Culture.
Only experience I have of Bradford is that there seems to be a greater amount of terrible drivers there.
Well this is interesting. A part of me wants to roll my eyes (Red Wall…). But Bradford seems like it could do with a boost, there’s SO much potential which is unused. Plus, per the article, a youthful city with a history of creativity.
It’s Asian population is only another positive thing, this is one thing that the Arts are for: bringing people together.
Seems a much better choice than the two previous ones, Hull and Coventry.
This is rich, considering it wasn’t that long ago when the V&A museum took the Bradford Film & Photography Museum archives for itself:
[https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/02/bradford-photography-collection-move-vanda-reviled-vandalism](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/02/bradford-photography-collection-move-vanda-reviled-vandalism)
They cut you in half with a machinegun, and then give you a Band-Aid.
Well hopefully any visitor won’t try driving there, it’s basically mad max with a much higher fatality rate.
Excellent choice. Probably the uks most slept on city.
Oh dear. Southampton where I live was bidding for it as well.
Good for them, shame for us
I’ve never visited but all I’ve ever read about Bradford is about its legions of kiddy fiddlers and the fact it is a shithole.
So please educate me should I add Bradford to my list of places to see in the UK? Have I been mislead?
This is your reminder that a major part of UK City of Culture is highlighting places that normally get overlooked by people and boosting the profile of its host. See Hull and Coventry as examples
Must admit the alambra is probably one of the very few redeeming features of Bradford. Always enjoyed a show there. Got my first kiss there too so maybe biased.
I used to go on monthly curry nights years ago around Leeds and Bradford. Mumtaz Paan House in Bradford remains the best I’ve experienced. Pricey but we’ll worth it.
Can’t really argue with this too much – Hull is and was a shithole, but does have interesting and genuine culture if you can persevere. Bradford is much the same, but with the addition of horrific amounts of every imaginable road crime
Cue the usual Badford, Bragford, Dragford, Madford, Dadford and Brad Pittford comments.
From Coventry to Bradford, oh nonononono, ohnononononono
(For reference my dad lived there for work for a while when he was younger and bore witness to several racially motivated clashes)
I live there, so it’s well deserved.
What the heck, have any of these people actually been to Bradford? As someone who works in Bradford, the only thing I want to do is leave. It’s an absolute ****hole.
Plenty of culture in Bradford, none of it British though
Bradford is one of the dirtiest cities I’ve ever been, shortly followed by Birmingham. Absolute dives.
Bradford shouldn’t win anything, it’s a dump.
“Bradford’s role in life is to make every place else in the world look better in comparison, and it does this very well.”
Bill Bryson, Notes from a Small Island
I used to go on monthly curry nights years ago around Leeds and Bradford. Mumtaz Paan House remains the best I’ve experienced. Pricey but we’ll worth it.
Nooooo I wanted Southampton to get it…
I visited Bradford for an event at the uni in 2018. There was this huge pedestrianised square which I thought was nice.
Is anyone going to point out the elephant in the room, namely that Bradford is about as racially/religiously segregated as it’s possible for a British city to get? It’s hard to be a City of Culture when a good third of the city in question adheres to a totally different culture.
How was the effect on Liverpool, Hull and Coventry? I remember seeing all the banners for it in Liverpool in the years leading up to it, but I wasn’t there to see what effect it had on the area by 2008 or beyond.