HIGH-FLYING acrobatics, vibrant street theatre and lively music hit the city centre for the three-day Bradford Festival.

The festivities were centred around City Park, but both stalls and acts spilled out onto neighbouring streets as the city got into party mode.

Hundreds of school pupils got the festival off to a flying start with their Big Sing for Peace on Friday afternoon.

On Saturday, the crowds descended on City Park to enjoy colourful and imaginative acts, such as the Marvellous Imaginary Menagerie, a show by British theatre company Les Enfants Terrible. In the show, an exotic caravan pulled into City Park filled with Vaudeville acts, live musicians and puppeteers.

In Dream Engine's Sling Pole, an acrobat was catapulted high into the air to perform a death-defying, high altitude routine.

And Shipley's Q20 Theatre brought a mix of blend of slapstick comedy, mime and audience participation as a silent movie trio performed Silent Movies Come to Life.

Traders manned an array of stalls selling gifts, flowers, hot food and sweet treats.

And cycling fans could try out the route of the Tour de France in one of the tents, thanks to exercise bikes hooked up to video screens.

Sunday was Bradford Mela day, and although the overcast weather affected the crowd numbers, those who turned out enjoyed a high-energy programme of free music and entertainment.

The eye-catching acts included Asian-inspired music and dance troupe Bombay Baja and Dancers and street-dance performers Upswing.