September is my favourite month. Not only is it my birthday, autumn is finally on the way and Strictly starts this week. Cosy nights, fires and better clothes.

But there’s too much going on in Bradford this month to stay indoors just yet. There are lots of people working really hard to improve the city’s image, raise its profile and provide plenty of good reasons to be proud of our city. So let’s do what we can to spread the word, get involved and discover another side to Bradford. Move away from the computer and embrace the real world. 

• Bradford Heritage Days take place throughout the month with free events at some of the city’s most beautiful places. Don’t miss the suffragette events at St George’s Hall, Manningham Mill Walk and open days at East Riddlesden Hall and the Peace Museum.
• The Bradford Fringe Festival enters into its final week. Its finale is Visions of Bradford a new play based on stories from around the city showing at the Underground on Saturday 7 September at 7.45pm.
• Break dancing/hip hop classes for kids (7+) at Kala Sangam arts centre every Monday starting 2 September.
• For one night only, Victorian cinema comes to Bradford with the first showing outside London of some of the very earliest films. The Great Victorian Moving Picture Show will be shown at the Picturehouse cinema at the Science and Media Museum on Thursday 5 September at 7.30pm
• The Tenx9 storytelling evening returns on Friday 6 September at 7.30pm at Speaker’s Corner, 4 Ivegate. This month’s theme Freedom.
• The Keighley Arts and Film Festival are looking for participants for a flash mob dance performance. First rehearsals and more information on 9 and 10 September at the Keighley Creative Space on Hanover Street.
• Coffee concert at Bradford Cathedral with Italian pianist Ida Pelliccioli on Tuesday 10 September at 10.30am. Have a look at the Cathedral’s events calendar for details of their other events and tours this month.
• Celebrate the new Downtown Abbey film in style with an afternoon tea at the Light Cinema on Friday 13 September at 1.30pm and 4.15pm.
•  Annual Pie and Priestley night with Glyn Watkins at Jacob’s Well pub. Two shows at 4pm and 7pm, shows are free, pies are not.
• The Saltaire Brewery Beer Festival returns on 13-14 September with beer, street food and music.  Wine, prosecco and gin are also available. Tickets are required for both days.
• The Saltaire Festival runs from 13-22 September including the Saltaire’s Makers Fair at Victoria Hall, a continental and farmers market, exhibitions, talks, shows and the return of the open gardens and sculpture trail.
• There’s a spooky ghost hunt and tour of Bolling Hall on Saturday 14 September from 8pm in what is reportedly Yorkshire’s most haunted house! Tickets via Frightnight.
• The Get Smart Film Festival launches on Thursday 19 September at 7.30pm at the Science and Media Museum. The festival is showcasing independent films from all over the world made using only mobile phones and tablets.
• Two tours celebrating Bradford Worthies at Undercliffe Cemetery on Saturday 21 September at 10.30am and 12.30pm. The tours are free, but tickets must be booked in advance.
• For World Wide Spin in Public Day Bradford’s Handweavers, Spinners and Dyers will be at the Bradford Industrial Museum demonstrating their craft for visitors on Saturday 21 September 11am-4pm. The Museum is also hosting a craft market on 28 September 11am-4pm.
• Join Bradford’s Big Bike Ride starting at City Park on Sunday 22 September 11am-3pm. They’ll be activities in the square too with a climbing wall and spider mountain?!
• The Road Cycling World Championships Women’s Elite Race sets off from Centenary Square on Saturday 28 September from 9.30am to 1pm. There’ll also be an aerial acrobatics show, street theatre performances and brass bands with the whole race live on the big screen.
• The Yellow Beck Road music festival arrives in Bradford over the weekend of the 26-28 September. Check out their page for more details of bands and venues to be announced soon. 
• A special open air cinema on Haworth Moor showing Rita, Sue and Bob Too and Wuthering Heights is taking place on 27-29 September. The 28 and 29 showings have sold out, but there’s an extra Rita, Sue and Bob Too on the 27 September with tickets still available. Checkout the Sneaky Experience website for tickets and upcoming Halloween shows.