Foodie families promised tasty treat at city event

A free food festival which has previously attracted 25,000 visitors to Bradford city centre is to return for the bank holiday weekend.

Taste:BD would showcase an array of dishes from across the globe, as well as a host of local brews and live entertainment, organisers said.

Running on Saturday 24 May and Sunday 25 May, this year's event would see a special focus on family and child-friendly activities, they added.

Emily Spencer, Bradford Council's event manager for the festival, said the food and drink scene was "really key to Bradford's cultural history" and the weekend would be a "brilliant" showcase for it.

"It's so exciting to bring food and drink back to the city centre," she said.

"We've got so much to offer in Bradford and with this year, with so many events going on, it's brilliant to bring lots of people to one space, try what we've got, see what we've got.

"There's something for everyone - loads of things for families, loads for people who just want to get out and try something new or come back and try the stuff they tried when we last had the festival."

Food Festival events will be held across City Park and Centenary Square, with the former playing host to family and child-friendly activities, organisers said.

Those activities would include a series of masterclasses and workshops geared towards children, held from 12:00 BST to 19:00 BST on both days.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Zaheer Khan, head chef at Bradford's homegrown MyLahore chain, is expected to deliver a cooking masterclass.

According to organisers, an array of international cuisines and scores of local brews for people to sample would be available in Centenary Square on both days.

Highlights would include Tunisian desserts, Greek Cypriot and Vietnamese street food as well as an array of new and familiar names representing the local culinary scene.

Live DJs would keep the crowds entertained into the night, with the bar area remaining open until 21:00 BST.

Taste: BD was originally launched in 2023, and Bradford Council announced its return at the end of last year as part of the UK City of Culture 2025 celebrations.

Miss Spencer said: "The food and drink scene is really key to Bradford's cultural history. There's so much diversity. There are so many interesting things to try.

"This weekend, it's really just the tip of the iceberg and there's so much going on with City of Culture this year based around food."

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