Bradford, England

The northern English city of Bradford is finally poised to step out from the long shadow cast by its giant Yorkshire neighbour, Leeds, as it takes its place as the 2025 UK City of Culture. A fabulous year-long programme of events includes the re-opening of the National Science and Media Museum, plus innovative celebrations of local cultural icons: more than 400 works by Bradford-born artist David Hockney held in a Unesco World Heritage 1850s mill; new digital takes on a fantasy world dreamed up by the famed literary Brontë sisters; and a musical programme mixing an electronic bassline symphony, old factory folk music, brass bands and South Asian sounds.

The diversity of offerings reflects the eye-opening variety of a city whose historic enclaves like Little Germany – where 19th-Century Teutonic wool merchants built an array of neoclassical warehouses – are complemented by a landscape of dramatic moors that play host to an extraordinary open-air immersive sound walk mixing contemporary classical music with a sculpture trail. A special energy also comes from the local residents who represent diverse backgrounds (and youth – a quarter are under 20 years old).