Bradford Cathedral Shines in UK City of Culture 2025 Spotlight
National Recognition for Bradford Cathedral
Bradford Cathedral has been chosen by the BBC as the location for its live Christmas Day service in 2025, coinciding with its status as UK City of Culture. On Thursday 25th December at 10am, Bradford Cathedral hosted BBC1’s Christmas Day service, broadcast live across the UK, bringing the historic cathedral to millions of viewers nationwide.
Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture was praised during the Christmas morning service broadcast live to the nation. The service featured carols, readings and prayers from across cultures and languages, reflecting Bradford’s status as UK City of Culture 2025, demonstrating the city’s rich multicultural heritage.
A Year of Cultural Celebration
Throughout 2025, Bradford Cathedral has been at the heart of the city’s cultural celebrations. The cathedral produced three seasons of events – ‘Creativity Under Pressure’, ‘Weaving Stories’, and ‘Global Connections’, tapping into the wealth of creativity, history, and connections in Bradford.
A major project helped people explore the rich heritage of Bradford through the historic threads of the wool trade that go back to the cathedral’s foundations 1,400 years ago. A large loom was placed in the Cathedral, inviting everyone to add a piece of wool to a large tapestry that will hang in the Cathedral after 2025, creating a lasting legacy of community participation.
Historic Significance and Ongoing Mission
Bradford Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter, is an Anglican cathedral in Bradford, West Yorkshire, one of three co-equal cathedrals in the Diocese of Leeds. Its site has been used for Christian worship since the 7th century, when missionaries based in Dewsbury evangelised the area, and it achieved cathedral status in 1919.
As Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture concludes, the cathedral continues to serve as a gathering place where the city’s diverse stories, cultures, and hopes come together, reinforcing its role as a vital cultural and spiritual landmark in the heart of the city.