The Bradford Chamber of Commerce has thrown its weight behind the city’s bid to host the Great Exhibition of the North in 2018.
Bradford is aiming to stage a two-month spectacular to showcase the best of art, culture and design in the North of England to national and international audiences.
Bradford Chamber President Andy Caton, a senior director at Yorkshire Building Society, said: "This is a great chance for Bradford to place itself not only at the heart of Yorkshire, but also as a key contributor to the Northern Powerhouse.
"It’s an opportunity to showcase what the North has to offer to the world and build on other events such as the Tour de France in 2014.
"There’s obviously a place for business at the exhibition, highlighting the trailblazers we keep producing and celebrating Bradford’s entrepreneurial heartbeat.
"We are a Producer City and we’re happy to work with Bradford Council and local businesses on making this happen.
"We hope that the bid will highlight the North’s cultural diversity, its rich heritage, and demonstrate outstanding examples of innovation, industry and entrepreneurism.
"This exhibition is probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we hope that visitors will come from near and far.
"We’re confident that Bradford’s team will submit a first-class bid and we look forward to working closely with the organisers.”
The Bradford team will be promoting the city to the Government-appointed bid committee as an ambitious, confident and forward-looking place with a young and diverse population, strong business community, an innovative technology sector, vibrant arts and cultural scene, great transport connections and excellent quality of life.
The team is in talks with some of Bradford’s world-famous sons and daughters about getting involved with the bid.
Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe said: "A team is hard at work developing our proposal ahead of the June 30 deadline.
"We don’t want to give too much away at this stage, but it will include mass participation events, both physical and digital, that everyone will want to be part of.
"Our exhibition will be exciting, imaginative and showcase innovations in creativity and culture that the North is world famous for.
"Bradford’s bid promises to be thought provoking, transformative, life affirming, populist and, above all, fun.
"Our city is the ideal place to illustrate the enormous potential that is awakening across the North.”
The Government has promised to contribute £5 million towards the exhibition itself and a further £15 million into a legacy fund to attract further cultural investment in the Northern Powerhouse.
The bid team has sought the advice of a group of creative thinkers from the arts, technology and design fields.
It also wants as many as ideas as possible from Bradford schools, residents and workers.
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