Pop up arts venue at Bradford's Lister Park holds first events
The Beacon, a travelling venue that has appeared in parks across the district in recent months, will be based in Manningham until late September.
CROWDS descended on a pop-up arts venue in a Bradford park as it hosted the first of dozens of events planned over the next month.
The Beacon, a travelling venue that has appeared in parks across the district in recent months, will be based in Lister Park in Manningham until late September.
Some of the events planned for the next month have already sold out.
And on Thursday hundreds of people attended a free family launch event that saw live music, arts, food and activities.
The Beacon is a Bradford 2025 venue, developed to bring City of Culture events to areas of Bradford that don’t have their own theatres or arts centres.
So far it has visited Wibsey Park, Horton Park and Cliffe Castle Park in Keighley.
Lister Park will be the final venue for The Beacon during 2025.
Thursday’s event saw a performance by popular Punjabi folk band Anjaana, local pop/rock band Playing for Kicks, Jake Keating and Omotola and Friends.
There was also an exhibition by Bradford Model Engineering Society, activities and craft sessions, food and arts.
The venue has a packed line up of events from now until it leaves the park on September 28.
Saturday will see a number of events, including a mobile adventure playground come to the Beacon between noon and 2pm.
Shadmanny is a food-based event that celebrates South Asian Wedding Culture and will feature child friendly cooking activities from 11.30am to 3pm.
The Cocoa Butter Club is a cabaret show featuring queer performers of colour, described as “where the melenated are celebrated”.
It starts at 8pm.
On Sunday the venue will host Whale, Where Are You Going? A production by Taiwan-based S. Production that uses puppetry to tell the story of an elderly man and mischievous boy. It takes place at 2.30pm.
A Hindu and Gujarati cultural event will take place on Tuesday (September 2) from 9.30am to 1pm.
On Tuesday evening from 6pm to 10pm there will be an evening of Caribbean music headlined by Selah Sounds.
On Saturday September 6, Blankets and Wine, a Kenyan music event, will be held across two stages in the park – and tickets have already sold out. It runs from noon until 8pm.
It features performances from Grammy Award winning singer songwriter Bensoul and musician/producer Blinky Bill.
Other events over the coming weeks include On Yer Bike – a showcase of cycling stories and artwork from communities in Keighley, Buttershaw and West Bowling, and The Invite, an immersive theatre experience by Manningham based theatre company Mind The Gap.
For more details visit https://bradford2025.co.uk/programme/the-beacon/