A free festival of light is coming to Bradford - bringing with it an artistic recreation of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, to Bradford city park.
Created by artist Dan Archer, the illusion of the northern lights will fill the sky above the park in an imitation of the aural band - using particle clouds and layers of light to build the effect above viewers' heads.
Alongside it, the city will see a host of different light-thtmed installations and attractions popping up. F
rom a band of light-up puppets including the Cottingley Fairies and Rombald the Giant, to a spectacular display at Bradford Cathedral that will see its 44 responsive light-organ ‘pipes’ transformed into a spectrum of light and colour, this free festival is not to be missed.
Elsewhere, you'll find 'When the Clocks Go Back, Count Sheep', which will see the exterior of The Wool Exchange lit up in colourful lights that will transform it into a moving clock decorated with sheep; Nutkhut’s Lotus Flower at The Broadway, and Lightweave at North Parade.
Lightweave uses macrame techniques on light cables to create a dramatic effect, whilst Nutkhut’s Lotus Flower honours the Hindu goddess Lakshmi herself whilst tapping into Bradford's diverse community roots.
And that's not all. Discover a a Tapestry of Light on Factory Street in Tong, a woodland AV installation outside Bingley Arts Centre and glowing, luminous balls of wool over in Haworth.
The festival is also packed with activities, such as creative workshops in Keighley. If you're heading down this way, make sure to pay a visit to the library - the exterior of which will be decked out in luminous art inspired by the buildings' archives.
Whilst the majority of displays will be in situ ahead of the big weekend, to be guaranteed to see it all you're best off to visit between 5 pm and 10 pm on Friday, 5 and Saturday, 6 November.
To find out more, visit the festival's website here.
Feature image -
Kirklees
3 Acres Inn – Beloved Yorkshire pub announces reopening after catastrophic fire
A much-loved West Yorkshire pub has confirmed its reopening date, one year on since it was devastated by a catastrophic Boxing Day fire.
A huge blaze tore through the 3 Acres Inn gastropub in 2023, and it's been closed to the public ever since.
But this week they've finally been in a position to confirm their reopening date later this year, almost 18 months since the heartbreaking incident.
The 3 Acres Inn announced the news in a post on Boxing Day, the one-year anniversary of the fire, writing: "Are you ready for our new story to begin…?"
3 Acres Inn has announced its reopening date, one year on from a catastrophic fire. Credit: Instagram, @3acresinn
The popular gastropub near Huddersfield has also been sharing sneak peeks of the major renovation taking place inside, including a new oyster bar, a new kitchen, and a wine room.
The 3 Acres Inn has confirmed it's set to finally reopen on Sunday 18 May 2025.
At the time of the fire last year, they wrote: "The fire on Boxing Day has been catastrophic and heartbreaking for the 3 Acres family. We are only just starting to understand the extent of the damage, and it’s going to be one hell of a road to recovery - but man are we up for the challenge.
"We would like to thank all of our loyal customers, colleagues, family, friends, strangers and alike for all their kind words, condolences, support, love and offer of help and assistance from far and wide. We feel incredibly humbled by the outpouring of support, and will continue to keep you updated as the clean up process begins."
This week they shared: "Today, exactly one year since the fire, we are delighted to announce The 3 Acres will reopen its doors on Sunday 18th May 2025!
"Online reservations will go live on Monday 6th January via our website, so mark your diary — and happy booking!
This Yorkshire community forest has been named England’s Community Forest of the Year
Clementine Hall
The White Rose Forest in Huddersfield has been named England's Community Forest of the Year for 2024.
It has planted an incredible 2,000 acres of new woodland in the past year, working closely with local landowners and councils.
It has been named England's Community Forest of the Year for its "leading role in woodland creation" by the England’s Community Forests conference which currently manage a total of 15 community forests across the country.
This achievement highlights the forest's significant contributions to woodland creation.
Image: The White Rose Forest
The 2023-24 planting season was a record breaker across the ECF network with almost 2000 hectares of new woodland and hedgerows planted.
Guy Thompson, Director of the White Rose Forest, said: “On behalf of our team and Kirklees Council as Accountable Body for our partnership, I’m proud to bring this award back to Yorkshire.
"It’s testament to the dedication and hard work of our team and partners that we have been able to support more landowners and woodland creation projects than ever before over the last year.
Image: The White Rose Forest
“All our work aims to protect and improve our natural environment and local communities across North and West Yorkshire. We’re now working on our long-term 25 year plan for woodland creation and management across the region and look forward to working with our partners in local, regional and national government, our national parks, landowners and communities across North and West Yorkshire to deliver this.”
Congratulations to the team, what an incredible achievement.
Georgina Pellant -
29th October 2021 
