Bradford has been named the UK City of Culture for 2025. The announcement was made by the Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries on the BBC's One Show on Tuesday (May 31).
The chosen city was selected from a shortlist which also included Wrexham, Southampton and County Durham. A panel of judges, chaired by Sir Phil Redmond, charged to make the decision spent the last few months visiting the prospective cities, meeting with community groups and local businesses.
The team behind Bradford's successful bid said before the announcement that it would be brilliant for the city. Perks included the creation of 3,000 jobs in the city with the UK's youngest population.
The Bradford 2025 official bid account on Twitter wrote: “This is our time to celebrate our extraordinary district – and for our young population to become leaders and change-makers to begin an exciting new chapter in our story.”
Sarah Manning, a young ambassador for the City of Culture bid team, told the BBC: "Bradford has always been a bit of an underdog but we are not an underdog, we are proud to be from Bradford. We feel like we are ready for it. We think it's going to give us more opportunities."
The Bradford bid team said winning the title could bring £700m into the town. The winning city will take over the title from current holder Coventry.
In February, when Bradford put in its bid, Shanaz Gulzar, chairman of Bradford 2025 told YorkshireLive : "All the hard work over the last 2 years has generated an energy right across the district, giving rise to new collaborations, connections and creative conversations which have helped us create what we feel is a winning bid."
She added: "It seems everyone is realising what we’ve long known; Bradford is a city with huge ambitions, and so much potential."
For the first time this year, the eight longlisted winners received a £40,000 grant to strengthen their applications. They included Cornwall, Derby, Stirling and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon.
Since winning the title, Coventry has seen more than £172 million invested in funding music concerts and the UK’s first permanent immersive digital art gallery, as well as a further £500 million for the city’s regeneration, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said.
