A three-day Irish fling will mark the start of this year's Bradford festival, organisers revealed today.

Visitors to the event - which is one of the largest community festivals in the country - will be able to enjoy an array of Celtic music and dance.

And as part of the celebrations Centenary Square will be transformed into Cafe Bradford, a European-style plaza with open-air markets, a funfair, entertainment, food and drink.

The free opening weekend of Celtic capers will run from Friday, June 26, to Sunday, June 28, and will be sponsored by Guinness.

Organisers are expecting around 100,000 people to flock to this year's festival over the two weeks up leading up to July 11.

Festival spokesman Rob Walsh said: "Cafe Bradford is the highlight of this year's festival. It was very much a toe in the water last year to see how it would go but people complained that it didn't last long enough.

"The market will be full of different stalls from all over the world and will be a riot of colour. There will also be a funfair, live music and a chance for people to sample different food and drink.

The Bradford Mela, pictured, is also one of the highlights of the festival and attracts tens of thousands of revellers to the city.

The multi-cultural extravaganza is usually held at Lister Park but organisers are still looking for an alternative venue for this year because of improvements being carried out at the park.

It will take place on July 4 and 5 and other festival events include a carnival parade and a fireworks finale on July 11.

Mr Walsh added: "The Guiness Festival Fling will get the festival off to a great start with a Celtic theme''.

There will be traditional music as part of the Celtic theme from Ceile, Oige and Tom McConville.

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