Get Outside with Bradford 2025

Carmel Smickersgill, Tours & Activities Editor

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Get Outside with Bradford 2025

Until 31 December 2025

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Get Outside with Bradford 2025: An image of a large man made pool with fountains in front of a historic building with a clock tower
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Bradford 2025 – UK City of Culture is in full swing, with cultural happenings blooming all over the city and the wider district. Below are just some of the ways in which you can experience the larger-scale public commissions. These site-specific works, most of which are free, are designed for the outdoors and show how world-class talent and local perspectives can combine to create remarkable experiences for everyone.

Step into the moorland above the city with the newly commissioned visual artworks that form Wild Uplands, a collection of site-specific pieces from internationally renowned artists. You can explore these while listening to Earth & Sky, a sound walk created by Opera North, combining new music, field recordings and the works of Bradford-born Frederick Delius. You can also watch the city transform with BD Walls, an ever-growing open-air gallery of new large-scale street art.

For performance with a difference, seek out The Railway Children, a spectacular production that blends theatrical magic with Yorkshire’s railway heritage. Step into the world of the Waterbury children as you board a real steam train and set off down the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, before experiencing a fresh staging of the show in a specially built auditorium.

To get between all these outdoor happenings, check out the walking trails of Bradford on Foot, 25 curated routes showing off the best of the city and surrounding area.

Get outside with Bradford 2025. Scroll down to find out more.

Our top picks

Bradford on Foot

Bradford on Foot, Until 18 October 2025, Free entry - Visit now

Get outside with one of the 25 specially devised walking trails in and around Bradford, as part of UK City of Culture 2025. Whether you’re looking to get into nature, connect with local history, or find accessible ways to enjoy the city outdoors, there’s something for everyone – and it’s all completely free.

Bradford on Foot
Courtesy Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. Image credit: David Lindsay

BD Walls in Bradford

BD Walls, Until 31 December 2025, Free entry - Visit now

Street art takes centre stage in BD Walls, with vibrant murals transforming the city of Bradford into an open-air cultural gallery.

BD Walls
Courtesy of Bradford 2025 - UK City of Culture. Image credit: David Lindsay

Wild Uplands at Penistone Hill Country Park

Wild Uplands at Penistone Hill Country Park, Bradford, Until 12 October 2025, Free entry - Visit now

Inspired by the surrounding landscape, four new large-scale public art commissions will embed themselves into the Bradford Moorlands this summer.

Wild Uplands at Penistone Country Park
Courtesy of Bradford 2025 - UK City of Culture. Image credit: Nida-Mozuraite.

Earth & Sky at Penistone Hill Country Park

Earth & Sky at Penistone Hill Country Park, Bradford, Until 12 October 2025, Free entry - Visit now

Opera North soundtrack your journey through the Uplands with three new commissions and a homage to Bradford-born composer Frederick Delius. Using state-of-the-art geolocation technology, you can listen to a curated soundscape that transitions as you move through the moor.

A woman wearing a long green jacket and a speckled dress stood infront of a wall.
Courtesy of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. Image credit: Tom Arber

The Railway Children at Keighley and Worth Valley Railway

The Railway Children at Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, Bradford, Until 7 September 2025, From £10.00 - Book now

Steam-powered storytelling at its very best and perfectly staged for Bradford 2025, this much-loved classic is pulling into the station in spectacular style this summer.

The Railway Children at Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
Courtesy Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. Image credit: James Glossop.

Where to go near Get Outside with Bradford 2025

Manchester
Gallery
Black Redstart Gallery

Black Redstart Gallery is located in the Northern Quarter and runs a busy programme of exhibitions from emerging and established artists.

RJC Dance Xmas Show
Leeds
RJC Dance

RJC Dance, based in Chapeltown, Leeds, champions youth and education, leading inclusive Black dance in the North through national partnerships.

texture logo
Manchester
Gallery
texture mcr

Possibly one of the city’s most mysterious art galleries, texture is a small and perfectly-formed independent space in Ardwick.

The Beacon at Cliffe Castle Park
Bradford
Park
Cliffe Castle Park

Cliffe Castle Park hosts the Beacon, a stunning performance space that will be touring the district throughout Bradford UK City of Culture 2025.

Hern Food
Leeds
Restaurant
Hern

This produce-driven bistro in Chapel Allerton, Leeds, prides itself on cooking with the only finest ingredients and his headed up by Cordon Bleu-trained chef Rab Adams.

Indie Makers
Leeds
Shop
Indie Makers

Indie Makers, located in Leads’ corn exchange, trades in art and gifts from independent makers across the UK.

Plant Point
Leeds
Shop
Plant Point

Plant Point is designed to help you bring the jungle into your urban or suburban space. The home of beautiful plants in Leeds.

Leeds
Restaurant
Eat Your Greens

Eat Your Greens is a vibrant, organic restaurant bringing a hint of European flair to the city’s plant-based dining scene.

Sela opened in 2004 with an idea to provide quality imported beers from around the world, fun cocktails to compliment the beer selections and a stage for the region’s finest and most talented musicians to play on.Over ten years later, we’re still all about the beer, cocktails, live music and pizza!We carry over a selection of over thirty different beers spanning the globe from Pickering with The Great Yorkshire Brewery’s Yorkshire Blackout, to New York with a selection from Brooklyn Brewery, and Belgium with longtime Sela favourite, Vedett.Our cocktails change regularly too. Our best-sellers are joined by fun, new offerings and our pizza menu is regarded as one of the best the city of Leeds has to offer.As for the live music, Sela has had not only the great and the good from the region. Local funksters, The New Mastersounds are regular visitors and we stage the amazing Mojah Reggae Band for their weekly Wednesday residency.  Our other long running programming incl
Leeds
Restaurant
Sela Bar & Pizzeria

Sela Bar is a cosy Leeds basement spot with live music, great drinks, and a cool, laid-back, atmospheric vibe.

What's on: Festivals

FestivalsCity Centre
Manchester Day 2025

Enjoy a dusk-til-dawn celebration of the community and exuberance of Manchester.

Free entry
Creatures Comedy Festival
Until
ComedyManchester
Creatures Comedy Festival

Smart, sharp and seriously funny, Creatures Comedy Festival brings stand-up stars, rising talent and Edinburgh previews to Manchester this July.

From £6.00
Until
CinemaManchester
YANK at Cultplex

Thirteen movies to get to know the United States of America. Cultplex presents a season of film exploring America through its own lens.

From £7.50
Until
FestivalsSale
Refract 25 at Waterside

Back for 2025, Trafford’s flagship arts festival returns to Waterside for six days of experiential performance and cultural delight.

NightGarden Festival
Festivals
NightGarden Festival

Somewhere in Trafford, behind an unmarked gate, a former garden centre hosts one of Greater Manchester’s most original festivals.

From £20

Culture Guides

Two women stand next to an orange car.
Cinema in the North

August brings a huge LGBTQ+ film festival, plus a reggae classic and a spotlight on Japanese animation.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Summer signals theatre festivals, world premieres and open-air spectacle - from MIF25 to comedy, outdoor circus and beyond, here’s what we’re looking forward to.

Blondshell by Hannah Bon.
Music in the North

From Lyra Pramuk’s sacred synths to the sugar rush of YAANG, our latest music picks bring ritual, rebellion and ridiculous levels of fun.

Exhibitions in the North

Monumental sculptures, charcoal confessions and a show of two paintings only - all this and more in this month's exhibition picks.