BBC Contains Strong Language Festival 2025 comes to Bradford for the first time

The Editor -

Edith Bowman, The Archers Podcast, poet Ian McMillan and The Divine Comedy to visit the UK City of Culture.

Many of BBC Radio 4’s best known programmes and presenters are coming to Bradford for the UK's biggest festival of poetry, performance and spoken word.

The ninth annual BBC Contains Strong Language festival will visit the city for the first time, from 18 to 21 September.

The annual festival will feature performance, readings, events and activities at venues across the city, as part of the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture celebrations.

A raft of Radio 4 programmes, including Front Row, Start the Week and Loose Ends, will be broadcast live or recorded during the four-day festival.

Podcast host and presenter Edith Bowman is presenting Loose Ends for the first time. Coming live from the festival, guests will include AA Dhand, author of the Virdee novels which were dramatised for BBC TV earlier this year, with music provided by Neil Hannon’s The Divine Comedy, coinciding with the release of their new album and UK tour.

The Archers Podcast, presented by Emma Freud, will provide a deep dive for fans of the world’s longest-running present day drama. Guests will include Ben Norris, who plays Ben Archer and is a poet, Archers scriptwriter Sarah McDonald Hughes and poet Rachel Bower.

Poet Ian McMillan will front Radio 4’s ‘cabaret of the word’, The Verb, featuring the winner of The Laurel Prize for nature writing, who will be announced during the festival.

Poets and performers from Bradford will be strongly represented. Festival-goers will be able to hear a recording of High Cockalorum, Bradford writer Jeremy Dyson’s ‘mini road movie’, created for Radio 4, which reunites him with Mark Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, his co-stars from the BBC TV comedy League of Gentlemen. Jeremy and Mark are due to take part in a Q&A.

Many of the weekend’s events will be free. Venues include St George’s Hall, City Library and Alhambra Studio.

In the build up to the festival, the BBC, Word Up North and Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture have run an outreach and engagement programme in liaison with schools, the NHS and mental health charities across the Bradford District, promoting the power of poetry and the spoken word.

BBC Contains Strong Language 2025 will include:

  • BBC Radio 4’s flagship arts programme Front Row will be broadcast live and presented by Bradford’s Nick Ahad.
  • The poet Testament presents poetry and performance from across the country with Daljit Nagra, Kate Fox, Andrew McMillan and Kirsty Taylor for Radio 4’s The AdVerb.
  • BBC Introducing, the platform for new artists, with performances from some of the best emerging spoken word and musical talent from the Bradford area.
  • An intimate gig from critically acclaimed spoken-word artist and musician Antony Szmierek, whose debut book and album are out now. Antony’s infectious lyrics have won him fans at Glastonbury, the Hay Festival and listeners to Jo Whiley’s Radio 2 programme.
  • Tom Sutcliffe and guests will explore the history of Bradford and Britain through their poetry for a recording of BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week.
  • A playback recording of Nick Ahad’s comedy drama Blue Envelopes, followed by a Q&A.
  • Poet-led CSL Poetry Shorts sessions exploring topics including: mind and body; music and lyrics and the power of the women of Bradford.
  • Audience participation events: Bradford Open Mic, available to all to read, perform or listen to poetry and spoken word; Sisterverse, for women to share their voices through poetry and the spoken word; and Beehive Poets, with an interactive poetry reading to create an exciting poetic soundscape.
  • The winner of the Alfred Bradley Bursary Award will be announced, with Oscar-winning judge Peter Straughan, who was recognised for his screenplay of Conclave, present at the festival.
  • Words First Talent Showcase: performances from emerging spoken word artists chosen as finalists in the CSL and BBC Upload talent development scheme for 18 to 30-year-olds.
  • The finale of the Language is a Queer Thing project, supported by the British Council, with performances by six queer poets from India and the UK.

Renowned local art collective Sand In Your Eye will transform City Park into a vibrant canvas with a giant ground mural, bursting with colour and words. Members of the public will be invited to add to the mural, drawing inspiration from poetry, words and each other, as it becomes a living artwork.

BBC Contains Strong Language 2025 is a partnership between the BBC, Word Up North and Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. It is supported by Arts Council England.

BBC Audio North Head of Culture, Arts and Music and Director of Contains Strong Language Sue Roberts said: “In this landmark UK City of Culture year, we are excited to bring the ninth BBC’s Contains Strong Language festival to Bradford.

“CSL brings together emerging talent and celebrated names, showcasing a powerful chorus of poetic voices that reflect the city’s rich creative spirit. With a mix of broadcasting, workshops, performances and panel discussions, each poet will bring a unique story that will resonate far beyond the stage.”

Word Up North Director Erica Morris said: “Word Up North is thrilled to work in partnership with the BBC and Bradford 2025 on this year’s edition of Contains Strong Language. The festival is an incredible opportunity to showcase the deep pool of poetry talent here in Bradford and West Yorkshire alongside nationally renowned poets and spoken word artists.

“We hope audiences live at the events in Bradford and listening to the BBC radio broadcasts at home will enjoy hearing from established favourites and being introduced to brand new distinctive voices too. With almost 50 events taking place over four days, Bradford will be pulsing with word power this September.”

Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture Creative Director Shanaz Gulzar said: “Bradford is a city where words reign supreme. As the birthplace of the Brontës and JB Priestley and home to the uncompromising working-class voices of John Braine and Andrea Dunbar, our literary legacy runs deep.

“We're thrilled that this partnership will further platform our district's talent, from the innovative Jeremy Dyson and Kirsty Taylor's raw and honest verse, the gripping world of AA Dhand's Virdee, to the imagination of Nick Ahad and beauty of Nabeela Ahmed's poetry.

“Through this exciting partnership, audiences in Bradford and across the nation will share in celebrating the creativity, diversity and energy that define our district during its year as UK City of Culture.”

Tickets can be booked via the festival website from midday today (Monday).