Crowds gather in Bradford city centre for unique acts at first day of festival

The two-day annual event, formerly known as the Bradford Festival, got off to a bang today with performances ranging from aerial acrobats to giant sea creatures wandering the streets.

WILD, a dance-circus production from Motionhouse, took place in Centenary Square this afternoon with performers using dynamic choreography and acrobatics to move through and atop a forest of tall poles.

WILD put on a great show

Arts group The Dream Engine will bring the aerial spectacular Loveart to City Park in the evening.

This performance will be mirrored by Techstyles, a hip-hop and street dance act, at the location.

The car park of Kala Sangam arts centre is transformed into a living room as the popular Front Room Poetry returns to the city centre.

BD: Festival is a two-day event

Peaceophobia, a performance about a group of young people and their love of cars, is ticketed in the Westgate Multi-Storey car park tonight.

There is a number of street gallery workshops on Kirkgate, where people can use props to create their own self-portraits.

WILD is just one of a number of acts performing

There are also fairground rides in Norfolk Gardens throughout the festival.

If you missed any of the above acts, there is still a chance to check some of them out. Here are the times and locations of where they will be tomorrow:

• Front Room Poetry, car park of Kala Sangam arts centre, (2pm and 6.30pm).
• Techstyles, City Park, (1.30pm and 6pm)
• The Bull and the Moon by DeNada Dance Theatre, Broadway Shopping Centre, (11.30am and 3.45pm).
• Out of the Deep Blue by Autin Dance Theatre, which will see Eko, a 13-foot-tall Sea Giant Puppet, roaming between Hutlergate and Ivegate, (noon, 2pm and 4pm).
• Anyday by Max Calaf with Split Second, Centenary Square, (12.45pm and 5.15pm).

The events are taking place across the district

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, portfolio holder for healthy people and places at Bradford Council, said: “It’s been a fantastic year so far for culture across the Bradford district.

"Being named as City of Culture 2025 has provided a huge boost to the confidence of our talented, diverse and young city.

"The re-imaged BD: Festival is a great example of our ambitions, our energy and our dedication to bringing world-class cultural experiences to the people of Bradford district and beyond, whilst also showing the world who we are and what we can do.”