Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture
Bradford 2025 is well underway, and we’re shining a spotlight on how National Lottery funding is helping bring this landmark year to life. From grassroots projects to major performances, National Lottery players are powering the people, stories and creativity at the heart of Bradford’s year in the spotlight.
A landmark moment for the city
Bradford 2025 is a huge celebration of one of the most diverse and dynamic places in the UK. Over the course of the year, more than 1,000 performances, exhibitions and cultural experiences will take place across Bradford District’s 30 wards. Bradford 2025 will pay homage to the district’s rich culture, from its industrial roots to its recognition as the world’s first UNESCO City of Film, and showcase the people, ideas and landscapes that make Bradford unique.
Thanks to National Lottery funding from Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund, this year is creating opportunities for local talent, inspiring audiences, and leaving a legacy for years to come.
30 years of supporting culture in Bradford
Since 1994, National Lottery players have raised £30 million every week for Good Causes. In Bradford, this has included over £333 million invested in more than 4,000 local projects, supporting grassroots creativity, restoring and reimagining heritage sites across the district, and backing organisations and artists who are shaping the city’s cultural landscape.
Because of you: how National Lottery players helped bring Bradford 2025 to life
Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture has been transformative.
Thanks to support from National Lottery players, funding from Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, The National Lottery Community Fund, and The British Film Institute has helped bring an extraordinary programme of culture, creativity and pride to life across the district.
From big screen brilliance to the fine art of boxing: National Lottery-funded projects helping to underpin Bradford 2025’s story
Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture is showcasing the city’s people, projects and passions through hundreds of events, exhibitions and performances that have drawn global attention and put Bradford firmly on the map.
Exploring Bradford’s unique National Lottery funded museum dedicated to Peace
The Peace Museum in Saltaire, Bradford, is one of a kind. There are an estimated 2,500 museums across the UK but only one museum is entirely about peace. It gives Bradford, the UK 2025 City of Culture something incredibly special.
Summer 2025 saw the museum pass one year at their new location housed within Salt Mills. The mill is the centrepiece of Saltaire village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Shipley on the outskirts of Bradford. Visitor numbers have hugely increased in large part thanks to National Lottery players – the museum moved here after a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
30 years of National Lottery funding across Bradford’s 30 wards - and the Bradfordians who make it count
The first National Lottery money backing a good cause in Bradford was used by the city’s Metropolitan District Council to refurb a public art gallery in Manningham ward. That was June 1995 and since then all 30 of Bradford’s wards have benefitted from between £1m and £100m each.
The positive impacts are far reaching on sports and community, culture and arts, heritage and more — led by, and for, the people who call Bradford home.
Bradford 2025: a summer of culture, ideas and art, powered by The National Lottery
Bradford is making history in 2025 as the fourth UK City of Culture, and this summer, the district is buzzing with local pride, public art, powerful exhibitions, theatre and music.Thanks to funding from The National Lottery, Bradford 2025 is bringing unforgettable cultural moments to streets, parks and public spaces across the district and beyond.
This exciting programme has been made possible through generous National Lottery funding from Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, The National Lottery Community Fund and the British Film Institute.