Leeds’ bid to be European city of culture was scuppered when Britain left the EU – but the city is carrying on regardless with dancing, barn-building and statues to local heroes
If the opening ceremony of Leeds 2023 is anything to go by, the city’s year of culture will be loud, expressive and incredibly diverse. Hosted by the TV presenter Gabby Logan and BBC radio’s Sanchez Payne, Saturday’s stadium show featured the singer Corinne Bailey Rae arguing with a giant face in the sky made of drones; a spectacular carnival version of the Kaiser Chiefs’ I Predict a Riot performed by dancers from the longest-running West Indian carnival in Europe; the chorus of Opera North singing Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping; and poet laureate Simon Armitage performing a commission about awakening artistic expression in Leeds with his band LYR.
Whether there is a need for Leeds to artistically awaken is in dispute: 10,000 tickets were handed out in exchange for photographic evidence of a piece of art, whether that was a painting, a quilt, a TikTok dance routine or some baked biscuits. The response was so large the organisers ended up with a waiting list.
