An outdoor drama set in a park is just one of the projects aimed at involving young people in this year's Bradford International Festival.

The production, Tall Tales, will be performed by the University of Bradford's Theatre in the Mill, along with secondary school pupils, in various sites across Lister Park, Bradford.

The theatrical piece will ask people to reassess the city and show them there is much about Bradford to celebrate.

The project will be overseen by artistic director of Theatre in the Mill, Andrew Loretto.

Pupils at Parkside School and Greenhead High School will be putting on a performance inspired by a spooky production being staged as part of the festival. The performances will be shown before the June 21 matinee and evening shows of the Ghost Lesson by Adam Strickson, at the Alhambra Studio.

The professional production, by Chol Theatre, will run from June 16 to 20, at 10.30am and 1.30pm, and on June 21 at 2.30pm and 7.30pm.

Tickets, priced £5 or £3 for concessions, plus a special rate for schools, will be available from the box office on (01274) 752000. And a whole host of events are planned for young people in Centenary Square during festival time.

A wet weather show inspired by the city's climate will be staged on June 13 and 17 by Poppet Puppets. The show, called Moist, will involve stories, songs and soaking stunts.

Other acts include Twisting Yarn Theatre Works, Leeds College of Music, the Yellow and Blues Band and JW Dance.

And schoolchildren will be able to watch the Emperor's New Clothes by Mind the...Gap - a group that works with learning disabled adults - for free. The show, at City Hall in Bradford, will be performed on June 13 until 19, from 1pm to 2pm.

Education Bradford's strategic manager for Music, Arts and Sport, Graham Cox, who is co-ordinating festival events for young people, said 17 schools will also be involved in the Lord Mayor's Carnival Parade on June 14.

Many of the schools have already held costume-making workshops with local artists.

Mr Cox, who took his present role in September last year, after running Bradford Music Service, said: "I am pleased with the number of schools that took part in the art competition we ran with the Telegraph & Argus, which got young people's involvement in the festival off to a great start.