Bradford Arts Centre’s January Blog

Happy New Year from Bradford Arts Centre!

We had such a fantastic time in 2025 with our off site programme, brand re launch, and moving back home to St Peters House. Our opening season was nothing short of incredible. Since we opened our doors we have welcomed more than 4000 people through our doors! The atmosphere was nothing short of electric here at Bradford Arts Centre. We have spent January getting prepared for our Spring/Summer 2026 season. Programmes are being delivered, posters are being put up, leaflets are popping up all around town, and tickets are on sale now…

Upcoming Performances:

We are kicking off 2026 with our Annual Arts Iftar. We are putting the finishing touches on what is set to be a gorgeous evening of creativity, connection, and community. Fancy joining us to break fast? Then keep an eye on our website for tickets on sale soon. We also have a range of other performances from the likes of Northern Rascals, Payal Ramchandani, Bobak Champion and more. If you are looking for somewhere to see high quality performances right on your doorstep, then we are the place to be!

Kala Sangam Commission:

We are excited to announce the second round of the Kala Sangam Commission for Indian classical performance work is now open. The Kala Sangam Commission was launched in 2023 to mark the 30th anniversary of the organisation and the first recipients were Akshay Sharma and Meera Patel.

The £10,000 commission is to support an artist or company to develop a new piece of performance work that showcases the breadth and variety of Indian classical artforms, that combines tradition with new ideas to challenge expectations and connects with audiences in new ways.

The commission is for artists or companies working in any performance artform with its roots in Indian classical traditions, including dance, music or drama. It is open to artists at any stage of their career and is intended to provide partial funding for the development of a new piece of work for the stage. We will work with the successful artist or company to help them apply for additional funding to support the project. We will also offer organisational and developmental support as needed.

You can find more about the commission here.

Tennant Update:

It has been a busy few months here at BCB. We’re so pleased to have moved into our new home at Bradford Arts Centre and to be able to welcome volunteers into the space. Our volunteers have been getting stuck in with the new tech and the feedback has been really positive. We’re looking forward to continuing work with partnership organisations in the Bradford Arts Centre. This month we’ve started our first training course of 2026 called ‘Step Up To the Mic!’. The training is an eight week course for women not currently in paid employment to come along and learn new skills, build confidence, meet other people and have fun making radio programmes. We’ve also been hosting planning sessions for the International Women’s Day event. Finally we want to say a big congratulations to Maureen Grant who has just been elected the new chair of our management committee.

Arts and Heritage Update:

Our Arts and Heritage Officers are busy preparing for an end of project sharing. Over the last two years, we partnered with Keighley Creative, South Square Centre and Bloomin’ Buds Theatre Company to undertake an ambitious community engagement project. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage fund and DCMS Cultural Development Fund, the four hubs form a network of creative venues across the Bradford district. Each organisation has an Arts and Heritage Officer embedded within their team to work with local communities. They have been delivering a programme of activities inspired by their community group’s heritages. The sharing will see all the community groups come together to see their artwork on display during a whole building takeover with performance, exhibitions, video, puppet shows, roaming actors and picnics. We are so excited to have the participants see their work in our building, plenty of photos to come on our socials soon. (@bdartscentre)

Life Outside The Office:

Rina kicked off 2026 with a trip to Las Vegas for a bucket-list experience: the Backstreet Boys’ ‘Into the Millennium’ residency at The Sphere. She described the immersive visuals as the “version of the future all millennials expected the year 2000 to look like!” Between the state-of-the-art venue and a setlist packed with hits, Rina had an absolute blast finally living out her Y2K teenage concert dreams. As she put it: “It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before!

At the end of 2025, Jess ran an air dry clay bauble workshop at Cliffe Castle, which was attended by over 200 people! She also had artwork in The Bradford Art Show at Loading Bay, the Z-Open at Bradford Industrial Museum and in the Turn Up exhibition at Trapezium Arts. Needless to say she got to attend plenty of exhibition openings. She celebrated her birthday with pottery painting, seeing Wolf Alice, English Teacher and CMAT and spending time with her friends and family.

Haider recently attended a Turner Prize late with Stella and Jess from the team. It was great to see the artwork after hours with so many great activities to take part in, including potteraoke, where Haider threw a bowl on the pottery wheel while singing ‘Great Balls Of Fire.’ He also enjoyed many trips to the cinema, to see Avatar, Marty Supreme and Dhurandar.

Classes:

Are you looking for a midweek activity or something to get you up and out of bed on a Saturday? We have a range of classes here at Bradford Arts Centre, suitable for all ages and abilities. Whether you are a skilled professional, just starting out, or ready to get back into the world of dance, singing or dhol drumming, our teachers are ready to see you! Check out our full list of classes here.

Venue Hire:

Our beautiful, heritage building is an inspiring, welcoming and inclusive place for your conference, training day, or event. With our range of flexible spaces – from a fully equipped conference hall to smaller meeting rooms and break out spaces – as well as on-site catering, super-fast free WiFi and great IT support, we can deliver your perfect event. We offer a city centre location with a host of professional, high-quality spaces at prices tailored to fit all budgets. Starting with a warm welcome, our team, lead by Steve and Ifty, is here to make sure your day runs as smoothly as possible – whether that’s setting up screens and projectors for presentations, getting the sound and lighting just right or making sure your mid-morning coffee arrives when everyone needs a break.

By booking a room at Bradford Arts Centre you are helping us to provide crucial support for artists, year-round creative activities for schools and communities and making sure we can offer affordable tickets so everyone can have the opportunity to see amazing cultural events.

To book your tour, or to just chat about what we can offer you, please check out venue hire page.