On Wednesday I attended the Born in Bradford annual Teddy Bears picnic in Lister Park.
It's an event I always try to get to where possible and as Play Champion and a mother of three small children I was determined to be there.
However, the grey skies turned into a downpour and the picnic was rained off half way through. I don't think the children present really minded the rain so much but the exhibits and stalls were getting soaked and even a hardened British mother wouldn't eat a picnic in the rain.
As we were stood getting soaked, watching the drama (there was a giant bear and a magician) which the children were loving, it occurred to me that there is absolutely nowhere in Bradford that offers a large capacity covered event space for a variety of styles of events. Sadly, in Bradford we're at the mercy of the weather and small venues.
We're attracting large events and therefore we need to think larger.
For several years running great events held outdoors have been either cancelled due to adverse weather, stopped early or not had the numbers of visitors which the events deserve. Events such as Curry Week, Bradford Festival and Positive Bradford to name a few.
Also if anyone wanted to put on an annual conference which every year gets bigger and bigger and is already running at full capacity there is nowhere in central Bradford to go.
I've come to the conclusion that our local economy needs a very large covered event space in as central a location as possible.
Perhaps the former Odeon cinema building should be redeveloped with such needs in mind. I envision a seated space around a central arena (which could be filled with temporary seats as and when needed to increase capacity) under a sunroof style dome. This could be blacked out with blinds if necessary or let light in to give outdoor natural light, where temporary stalls could be set up for events like Positive Bradford or a Born in Bradford picnic etc. There could also be a large foyer space with permanent shops/stalls similar to the MEN Arena (in Manchester) for food outlets and other shopping / merchandise appropriate for the events.
I really hope that someone or a group with the necessary financial backing will have the vision necessary to do this for the sake of our regular large scale conferences and events. I'd do it if I had the money. We need Bradford to think bigger.
In the meantime however, the cancelled picnic gave me the opportunity to rediscover the delights of the art gallery in Cartwright Hall. There were loads of things on for the children too. They got to make peg dolls and do some drawings. I also got to show my daughter my favourite painting - The Egyptian Feast, and she was suitably impressed.
We ended up having to eat our picnic in the car though!
