business

Bradford Plans Creative Future After 2025 Culture Year

BPH Catalysts For Culture Conference 2023. Photo: Tom Woollard.

A major cultural conference will be held next spring to secure the city’s creative legacy following its UK City of Culture 2025 year. The event, Connecting Culture: The Bradford Way, aims to shape the long-term future of the district's arts and cultural sector.

For the Northern business community, this conference signifies the city’s intent to sustain the economic and cultural momentum generated by its year in the spotlight. It will focus on how collaborative, place-based working can achieve sector stability and drive local development. The conference takes place on 25 March 2026 at Bradford Arts Centre (formerly Kala Sangam).

The event is being organised by The Bradford Way, an Arts Council England-funded Place Partnership designed to strengthen the district’s cultural community well beyond 2025. This long-term initiative unites Bradford Producing Hub, Cultural Voice Forum, The Leap, and City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council.

Mega Drawing Box The Beacon. Photo: Bob Smith Photography.

The conference is designed to lead a national conversation on cultural investment and explore strategies to sustain momentum and grow opportunities for artists and producers. It will demonstrate new models of collaborative working that add stability to local arts and culture.

Peg Alexander, Chair of The Bradford Way, emphasised the city’s unique approach: “2025 has been an outstanding, transformational moment in our story. Through The Bradford Way, we will continue to celebrate and inspire our ‘Bradfordness’ for years to come, connecting culture as a hook to prove what’s possible.”

The consortium has already provided business development support to local organisations and artists through programmes like Expanding Horizons, and funded grassroots projects via The Leap's Your Way Awards.

Pete Massey, Director for Yorkshire and The Humber at Arts Council England, said the work will "cement the legacy for Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture". The event is an opportunity for cultural organisations from across the North and the wider UK to share ideas and explore models for resilient cultural ecosystems.