AN event which bills itself as "the UK's premier festival of alternative electronic music" has announced it is "time to move on" from Bradford. 

Infest Festival started back in 1998 as an idea to get more people into the bar at Bradford University students' union over the summer.

Now, organisers have said the event will take place at the University of Manchester's students' union in 2025 - and explained why in a statement.

"Next year Bradford is UK City of Culture, and unfortunately we believe Infest simply won’t work," the statement said. 

"We believe the main effect of City of Culture will be that accommodation will be unavailable, or unaffordable in sufficient quantity."

The statement added organisers were "not ruling out coming back (to Bradford) one day, but it's time to move on", and described all the years the festival was held in the city as "great".

The announcement came as Infest was held at four different venues in Bradford - St George's Hall, Nightrain, Underground Bar and Spirit of Bradford Bar - between Friday night and the early hours of Sunday last week.

According to the statement, the festival will be held in Manchester over two days next year - the evening of Friday, August 15, and all day on Saturday, August 16.

It added: "We know that for many people money is tight, so in a concerted attempt to keep your costs down, we are planning for Infest '25 to become a two-day event.

"The supportive messages we've received following our announcement that we're moving to Manchester in 2025 has been overwhelming."

Infest was approached for further comment by the Telegraph & Argus but no response was received.

According to Infest's website: "Infest is the UK’s biggest and longest-running alternative electronic music event.

"We typically include EBM, industrial, synthpop, darkwave, rhythmic noise and other subgenres adjacent to the goth and industrial scene.

"Infest showcases genre-defining and well respected acts from the 1980s to the present day. 

"We have artists and customers travelling from as far as Canada, the USA and Australia, as well as from all over Europe and the Nordic countries. 

"Infest really brings people together.

"Our customers come to the show for the chance to see some very significant and influential acts alongside new talent.

"In addition to our enjoyment of the music and alternative culture, we are proud to support a number of charities each year."