Bradford Takes the Crown: UK City of Culture 2025

In 2025 the spotlight swung to West Yorkshire as Bradford became UK City of Culture, launching a year-long programme of exhibitions, commissions, music and performance across the city and district.

It was a fitting stage: Bradford is the city that raised David Hockney, and in 2025 it also hosted the Turner Prize at Cartwright Hall, drawing the national art conversation north.

The City of Culture title, awarded every four years, is designed to use culture as an engine of pride and regeneration — and Bradford seized it with both hands.

Image: “Bradford City Hall (20th April 2024) 001” — Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.