Dynamo works his magic on Bradford to launch UK City of Culture 2025
2025-01-11
Category: entertainment

Thousands of people braved sub-zero temperatures to watch an open-air spectacle starring magician Steven Frayne, formerly known as Dynamo, a 10-year-old rapper and a dozen aerial dancers to launch Bradford's year as UK City of Culture.Frayne told the audience he started his career performing street magic in City Park, where the opening ceremony was held, and that his home city was "going to make its mark on the world" in 2025.Organisers said about 10,000 people turned out to watch the show, which took place in temperatures of -3C (26.6F).Bradford is the fourth UK City of Culture, a title that is awarded every four years.
The scheme is designed to boost the chosen city's visitor numbers, economies and reputations, and Bradford's year has received £15m government funding.Other events will include the Turner Prize, a national drawing project inspired by Bradford-born artist David Hockney, and an exhibition about the parallels between boxing and calligraphy.
Frayne said headlining Friday's opening ceremony "means more than I could ever put into words"."To be in a place where there's a massive stage put right in the centre for people to come and share in some amazement, that's a dream come true, it genuinely is," he told BBC News beforehand."I'm super proud to be from Bradford. It wasn't necessarily the easiest place to grow up... so to be a small, tiny part of this [celebration], it's just incredible."The opening show, titled Rise, involved a cast of 200 including 10-year-old rapper Cruzy T plus poets, musicians and dancers alongside Frayne, with a theme of warts-and-all pride, unity, diversity and overcoming adversity.On the two stages, scaffold towers formed stacks of boxes containing the performers, as slogans and visuals of the city and its people were projected onto the front.Projections were also used to transform the towers into Frayne's childhood home, with a young actor playing Frayne as a boy before the real magician enlisted the crowd to take part in a series of tricks. The show will be staged again on Saturday.
As it happened: Relive the opening ceremonyBradford 2025 creative director Shanaz Gulzar said the opening event was intended to show that Bradford and the UK were "incredibly diverse, representative, resilient and strong, and capable of doing magical, impossible things".She hopes this year will give pride to Bradfordians, bring in more investment and show a new side to the city."There's particular press and a particular image of Bradford, which isn't true," she said."Every city in the UK has flashpoints, has challenges, and you need to give places space and time in order to navigate and come through them," she said."We are more than one flashpoint, we are more than one moment in time, we are more than our challenges - we are also our opportunities."Gulzar said being City of Culture had attracted funding to allow the National Science and Media Museum to have a £6m refurbishment.It reopened this week after 18 months and is staging an exhibition of a selection of Hockney's video and photography works. Meanwhile, the Hockney-inspired drawing project will run throughout the year.
Other highlights will include a tribute to Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar, a season of films by working-class northern women, the installation of a new 15m (50ft) sculpture in the city centre, and an exhibition of striking surrealist photos by Ethiopian photographer Aida Muluneh.That exhibition will then tour to Cardiff, Belfast and Glasgow, the first time a City of Culture event has travelled to all four nations of the UK.Gulzar said winning the City of Culture title had also been instrumental in attracting a new Brit School, which has trained stars including Adele and Tom Holland. It is expected to open in 2027.However, the title has not worked its magic on everything in Bradford's cultural scene.The former Bradford Odeon, next to the site of Friday's launch event, had been due to reopen as a music venue for the City of Culture year after a £50m refurbishment.But the NEC Group pulled out of running it last year, leaving it empty and leaving the council looking for a new operator.The previous Cities of Culture - Londonderry, Hull and Coventry - saw increased attention and investment during their tenures, but there have been mixed outcomes and mixed feelings about the scheme's lasting impact after their years ended.
Bradford's cultural claims to fame
The Bronte sisters - Emily, Charlotte and Anne lived in Haworth, in the Bradford districtFrederick Delius - the composer was born in Bradford in 1862JB Priestley - the playwright wrote his most famous work, An Inspector Calls, in 1945David Hockney - Britain's greatest living artist was born in the city and studied at Bradford School of Art in the 1950sAndrea Dunbar - the playwright is best-known for 1982's Rita, Sue and Bob TooAnd five current cultural heroes:Zayn Malik - the One Direction heartthrob is a Bradford 2025 ambassadorBad Boy Chiller Crew - the bassline rap trio were nominated for the best group Brit Award in 2023Nia Archives - the jungle music producer was nominated for the Mercury Prize last yearZoe Thorogood - the graphic artist was nominated for five Eisner Awards, the "comic book Oscars", in 2023AA Dhand - the crime novelist's books about detective Harry Virdee are being turned into a major BBC One drama