THE young winners of a new talent contest were guests of honour at a civic reception held to celebrate their achievements.

Winners of this year’s inaugural Festival of Talent enjoyed an afternoon tea in the banqueting hall of City Hall, hosted by Lady Mayoress of Bradford Elizabeth Sharp.

She said: “The reception was a blast. The children had a lovely time. I don’t think they were expecting anything quite like it. To find the Banqueting Hall laid out was mind-blowing for them.”

The Festival of Talent was set up by Mrs Sharp this year as a way of recognising the skills of the younger generation.

Contestants spent months practicing a range of acts including song, dance, impersonations and stand-up comedy, before being whittled down in a series of contests, culminating in a final performance at Bradford’s Schools Proms at St George’s Hall last month.

Mrs Sharp said: “I wanted to give every child within the entire district the chance to showcase their own talent without it costing them a penny.”

Runners’ up silver for the primary school section went Taai Barratt, from Thornton Primary School who performed an unaccompanied rendition of a Michael Jackson song, with Isatou Jawo, of Southfield Grange campus taking the secondary silver award for her singing.

Winners were a dance act by pupils of Lady Lane Park Primary School for the primary section and Eesa Amin, of Carlton Bolling College for the secondary section.

And now the festival looks set to become an annual event, with the next Lord Mayor, Councillor Joanne Dodds, saying she would like to hold the event in her mayoral year too.