With less than two weeks to go until the BD: is LIT festival weekend on 7 and 8 November, anticipation is building for one of the most dazzling highlights of Bradford’s City of Culture year.
The festival will transform the city centre into a glowing landscape of light, sound and storytelling, featuring 18 artists and installations that celebrate imagination, identity, and community.
Here, three artists, Jez Colborne, Cat Scott, and Emergency Exit Arts, share the stories behind their illuminating creations.
Lighthouse by Jez Colborne
Local musician, composer and director Jez Colborne, a learning-disabled artist from Manningham, brings a new sensory performance to Darley Street Market Courtyard.
His show, Lighthouse, follows a veteran lighthouse keeper whose world is changed by isolation and automation. Part gig, part light show, part apocalyptic rave, the piece combines industrial beats, projection, sculpture, and storytelling.
Jez said: “When I was a kid, I loved hearing the foghorn at night. Lighthouse is about that feeling, finding your way when everything gets dark.”
Supported by Mind the Gap, Unlimited, Bradford Council, and Bradford 2025, Lighthouse invites audiences to step inside a recreated lighthouse and experience a world where light and sound collide.
Flow (of the Broad Ford) by Cat Scott
Bradford-based artist Cat Scott brings the city’s hidden waterways to life with her immersive installation Flow (of the Broad Ford) on Market Street.
Visitors will walk through a shimmering, fog-like illuminated river, inspired by Bradford Beck, the underground waterway that gave the city its name.
“Bradford literally means ‘the broad ford,’” Cat explains. “I wanted to remind people how important water is to the city, to our climate, and to our wellbeing. When we can’t see something, we stop appreciating it.”
Stitching Light by Emergency Exit Arts
Created by Emergency Exit Arts (EEA) with local partners Oitij-Jo and the Migration Museum, Stitching Light is a textile and light installation telling the migration stories of Bangladeshi women in the UK.
Sixteen hand-painted and stitched panels, created in collaboration with a Dhaka-based folk artist, form a glowing walk-through structure accompanied by a soundscape of recorded voices and memories.
Daniel Bernstein, CEO of EEA, said: “These stories are seldom told, but they shine a light on Britain’s diverse cultures and help understanding and integration. We’re proud to co-create free outdoor art with communities.”
Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, said: “BD: is LIT 2025 will transform the city centre into a glowing landscape of installations, performance and storytelling. This year’s event promises to be bigger and better, free, family-friendly, and showcasing the incredible talent of local, national, and international artists.”
