Latest news with #JamesMason
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Choirs gather for special events throughout district
AS PART of the City of Culture Year local Bradford Choirs around the district- Bradford Voices, Ben Rhydding Community Choir, Bridging Borders and Bradford Friendship Choir, are pleased to welcome the 41st Street Choir Festival. The weekend will be shared with Windrush Generations- Carnival of Culture. The weekend includes a full programme of street singing, concerts and workshops. Members of the public will be entertained free by the festival's visiting choirs, from across the UK who will assemble in City Park on Saturday June 14. They will be welcomed to the event and the city by James Mason, chief executive of West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce. At 10.30am until 11am the choirs will sing together in what they call a Mass Sing. This will be an uplifting experience of more than 50 choirs and around 1100 singers, with the singing together unaccompanied in four-part harmony. They will sing songs of peace, unity and solidarity. Prior to this the audience will be warmed up by Bradford-based band the Peace Artistes. After the Mass Sing the choirs will sing in 15 locations around the city centre for shoppers and passers-by who can stop, listen, reflect and relax. On the evening choirs will then showcase their songs at St George's Hall. Bradford is one of the first places in the UK to be recognised as a City of Sanctuary and has always welcomed people seeking a safe place of refuge, it is also the only city in the UK with a Peace Museum which is now housed in Salts Mill, Saltaire, so it is a fitting location. First held in Sheffield in 1984 as the National Street Band Festival, the Street Choirs Festival brought together musicians who played in the signature marches and protests of a politically turbulent decade. The intention of the festival is to put music into protest to make it more creative, joyful and thought provoking. The festival has expanded to welcome community choirs who sing together for the love of singing. It includes women's choirs, asylum seeker choirs, anarchist choirs, socialist choirs, , LGBTQ choirs, choirs singing to raise awareness of human rights, social justice, environmental justice, climate justice and other campaigns. It has been hosted by community choirs across the UK, from Edinburgh to Brighton, Aberystwyth to Whitby and in 2026 it will be in Dumfries and Galloway. Bradford has hosted the festival twice before, in 1999 and 2005. More than 1200 eco-friendly handmade recycled bags made by the many sewers at Bingley-based Morsbags and screen printed by local firm Fingerprints have been produced for the Street Choir Festival. Morsbags in Bingley, are linked to the Plastic-Free Bingley action group and have a team of dedicated volunteers make shopping bags from donated pieces of fabric which are then given to a host of town shops to pass on to their aim is to encourage people to reduce their use of plastic bags and encourage recycling and reusing by handing out the bags. For more information visit Streetchoirsbradford@
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New promotion push for city's former textile hub
An area of Bradford filled with Victorian buildings which once formed the thriving hub of the city's wool industry is to be promoted in a new campaign. Little Germany is home to 55 listed sites, but several businesses have moved out of the area, leaving many of the 19th Century buildings to be converted into flats. A spokesperson for Impact Hub Bradford said a team had been set up to encourage more businesses, visitors and investment into the area. James Mason, chair of the Little Germany Steering Group, said: "If this was anywhere else in the world, it would be revered, promoted and celebrated." Heritage trails, film tours, regular cultural events and the roll-out of a series of blue plaques would all be used to promote the area, Impact Hub Bradford said. A new website had also been launched to highlight the area, its history and buildings, and new Little Germany branding had been produced to be used on signs and promotional material. Meanwhile, two empty buildings on Chapel Street would be brought back into public use in the coming years, according to a spokesperson for the organisation. The campaign would have the motto "This is the story of Bradford in stone." At a launch event on Thursday, Mr Mason said the area "might have lost a bit of its soul over the years". "Depending on which time of year you come, you will see the area in a different light – quite literally. "People in Bradford don't often shout about the city's successes. It is not that they hide their light under a bushel, it is that they hide that bushel under another bushel. "It is time we celebrate Little Germany as an important part of Bradford's regeneration." Mr Mason, who is also chief executive of West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said the new campaign coincided with "palpable momentum" to improve Bradford, spurred on by the City of Culture 2025 celebrations and the promotion of Bradford City's promotion to League One. Kamran Rashid, who founded Impact Hub Bradford, said the success of the venture showed Little Germany was a good base for business and creative groups. Impact Hub had plans to expand into 30 Chapel Street – a long derelict building that would offer much more space, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). Last year, a planning application to convert the building into office and co-working spaces, complete with cafe, workshops and a conference space, was approved by Bradford Council. Mr Rashid pointed out that Little Germany was built by European immigrants, adding: "Bradford is seen as a city of immigrants, and many say that in a negative way. "But if you look at history, German migrants came and built this area and helped Bradford become the great city it became." Si Cunningham, chair of Bradford Civic Society, said there was "a lot of optimism" around Bradford, but he added that promoting the city could be "exhausting and character building". "A lot of people don't want to give up on Bradford because there are so many opportunities," he said. Mr Cunningham explained that there were plans to refurbish existing blue plaques in the area, as well as rolling out new ones marking the area's history, such as the foundation of the Independent Labour Party there in 1893. There would also be a number of heritage days, he said. David West, former director of Little Germany Action, said: "It is a stunning place, but it could be so much better." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. 'It's cheaper but it's a great place to be' Why is there a Little Germany in Bradford? Plans approved to restore Victorian shop fronts Impact Hub Bradford LDRS
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Bradford's Little Germany to get new promotion push
An area of Bradford filled with Victorian buildings which once formed the thriving hub of the city's wool industry is to be promoted in a new campaign. Little Germany is home to 55 listed sites, but several businesses have moved out of the area, leaving many of the 19th Century buildings to be converted into flats. A spokesperson for Impact Hub Bradford said a team had been set up to encourage more businesses, visitors and investment into the Mason, chair of the Little Germany Steering Group, said: "If this was anywhere else in the world, it would be revered, promoted and celebrated." Heritage trails, film tours, regular cultural events and the roll-out of a series of blue plaques would all be used to promote the area, Impact Hub Bradford said.A new website had also been launched to highlight the area, its history and buildings, and new Little Germany branding had been produced to be used on signs and promotional two empty buildings on Chapel Street would be brought back into public use in the coming years, according to a spokesperson for the campaign would have the motto "This is the story of Bradford in stone." At a launch event on Thursday, Mr Mason said the area "might have lost a bit of its soul over the years"."Depending on which time of year you come, you will see the area in a different light – quite literally."People in Bradford don't often shout about the city's successes. It is not that they hide their light under a bushel, it is that they hide that bushel under another bushel."It is time we celebrate Little Germany as an important part of Bradford's regeneration."Mr Mason, who is also chief executive of West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said the new campaign coincided with "palpable momentum" to improve Bradford, spurred on by the City of Culture 2025 celebrations and the promotion of Bradford City's promotion to League Rashid, who founded Impact Hub Bradford, said the success of the venture showed Little Germany was a good base for business and creative groups. 'Great city' Impact Hub had plans to expand into 30 Chapel Street – a long derelict building that would offer much more space, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). Last year, a planning application to convert the building into office and co-working spaces, complete with cafe, workshops and a conference space, was approved by Bradford Rashid pointed out that Little Germany was built by European immigrants, adding: "Bradford is seen as a city of immigrants, and many say that in a negative way. "But if you look at history, German migrants came and built this area and helped Bradford become the great city it became."Si Cunningham, chair of Bradford Civic Society, said there was "a lot of optimism" around Bradford, but he added that promoting the city could be "exhausting and character building"."A lot of people don't want to give up on Bradford because there are so many opportunities," he Cunningham explained that there were plans to refurbish existing blue plaques in the area, as well as rolling out new ones marking the area's history, such as the foundation of the Independent Labour Party there in 1893. There would also be a number of heritage days, he West, former director of Little Germany Action, said: "It is a stunning place, but it could be so much better." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
