Musicians, promoters and venues are being urged to join an exciting month-long celebration of live music in Bradford city centre.
Bradford Business Improvement District (BID), a limited not-for-profit company funded by more than 600 levy-paying businesses and organisations to help promote and develop the city centre, is sponsoring the first ever October Is Music Month which will see dozens of live music events of many different types staged in a wide array of venues and locations.
Working with Bradford at Night, Bradford Council and Bradford Producing Hub, they plan to bring the streets alive with the sound of music on four consecutive Fridays, daytime and evenings and two Sunday afternoons during the month.
BID has called on anybody involved in playing, promoting or staging music in the city centre to get in touch with details of their events and ideas to help make the event even bigger and better.
Jonny Noble, manager of Bradford BID said, “Bradford has a fantastic musical heritage and with City of Culture 2025 on the horizon there is no better time to start making a lot more of it.”
He added that Bradford has a rich music legacy running through its core and there are “far more music-related events going on here than most people realise.”
Explaining about the event he said, “October Is Music Month is about bringing together as many events as possible of all different types and styles of music for all of our many different audiences to enjoy in a concentrated period to remind people just how much the city has to offer.”
He went on to say that he hopes that the events would have a family feel and appeal to everyone across age groups and background. He added that, “we also want it bring in more visitors to the city centre and help give our retail, food and hospitality sectors a much-needed boost as we start the run-up to the festive season.”
Gail Simpkins, who is co-ordinating OIMM for the BID, said they were happy to hear from anybody who has an idea for an event as well as from venues, promoters and musicians who already have gigs listed for the month.
“At this stage, we just want to know what else is going on that we might not have picked up on already and to hear from anyone else who wants to take part,” she said. “All I’d like people to do is e-mail me as soon as possible at mama@mamahoodoomusic.co.uk with their details and ideas,” he said.
She said a full programme of events will be issued next month.
Cllr Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places said “We’ve had a great summer of events and activities across the Bradford district and there’s so much more to come. October Is Music Month looks like it’s going to be a great event with something for all musical tastes”
