Uplifting

Although Bradford's City Park has been open to us since Christmas, today saw the formal Grand Opening, with a day of street theatre, performance, fountains and fireworks.

It was a lovely day, and tens of thousands of people came in to enjoy it, the biggest response to a public event in the city centre in all the years that we've been here. People seem to have really taken to this massive public realm space. The mirror pool and fountains, which I've featured many times in the journal over the past few months, are bringing a real sense of play into the city, and hundreds were happy just to be paddling.

We only caught a few of the performances, but the aerial ballet of Elena Marina with the "Clearsphere" was the highlight. This image shows how the performance fitted into the space, and captures some of the paddling crowds and of course the iconic City Hall. You can see more stills and video of her performances on the day, on her own blog, here.

Later, we witnessed a Human Fountain, and fabulous fireworks and fountains finale.

A great day, as befits a great public relam development. Let's hope this is what finally convinces the people of Bradford to fall back in love with their city.

aerial ballet
lighter
than air
uplifting
civic display