Event Type: Events

FREE/ Pay as You Feel – Everyone is welcome.

Join South Square for Mindful May, to celebrate Mental Health Awareness week. We have planned a whole bunch of relaxing, creative, mindful events for you to join in with throughout the day. There’s something for everyone, including craft workshops, yoga sessions, and music, all aimed to help lift your spirits, brighten your day, and to help make you feel calm and creative! 

During the day, Plenty at the Square will be giving out FREE healthy drink shots, plus, they’ll be offering a Mindful May inspired menu.

Mindfulness is the practice of being present and fully engaged in the current moment without distraction. It involves learning to pay attention to thoughts, emotions, and sensations in a non-reactive way which can help reduce stress and improve focus.

Art and creative events are perfect ways to help you feel more calm, as they take you away from your normal, every-day activities, they are an a fun way to engage in something new, learn a new skill, and take time out for yourself and with your loved ones.

Our highly anticipated annual event will be filled with relaxing workshops, taster sessions, music and more. Read on to find out what we have scheduled, and book your tickets now before they all go!

TASTER SESSIONS / WORKSHOPS

Nidra Meditation // 9:30 – 10.15 // Limited Spaces // Click here to book

Nidra Meditation, also known as Yogic Sleep, is practiced lying down. You will be guided by our resident yoga instructor Nicola, through 45 minutes of pure relaxation to calm a busy mind, soothe the nervous system and reduce stress, leaving you feeling grounded and energised, ready to face the rest of your day.

No experience of Yoga or Meditation required, just bring a mat, an open mind and an open heart.

Chair Yoga // 10:30 – 11.15 // Limited Spaces // Click here to book

Chair yoga is a gentle form of yoga that is practised whilst sitting in a chair. It’s a good way to start exercising if you have limited mobility or have trouble standing for long periods. Chair yoga helps to improves flexibility, posture, and balance, as well as helping tone muscles, relieving stress and helping with sleep.

No experience of Yoga required, just bring yourselves!

EFT (Tapping) Taster Session // 11:30 – 12.15 // Limited Spaces // Click here to book

Come and join this introduction session to EFT session. EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique, a self-help method that involves tapping on specific points of the body to manage emotions. Hosted by Natasha, a professional EFT practitioner, she will teach you to tap, and using this method to focus of helping you take time out for some self care, and helping stabilise your emotions. This is open to anyone new to tapping or interested in tapping, and those who have done it before and want a refresher.

No experience required, no equipment required.

Sound Bath Experience // 12:30 – 1:15pm // Limited Spaces // Click here to book

This session allows for deep relaxation, whilst being guided on a meditation journey, giving you time to focus on the various instruments with their different frequencies. Judy from Rural Relaxation, will use a variety of percussion instruments including Tibetan singing bowls, tongue drum, ocean drum and ting-sha bells to ease you into a feeling of rejuvenation and deepened relaxation.

You will be sat on the floor for this workshop. Feel free to bring a cushion. Chairs can also be provided for those that prefer to sit.

Suitable for beginners.

Death Cafe // 1:30pm – 3pm // Click here to book

A Death Cafe is a safe space to talk about death, grief and all things related. Nicola Murray from Kynd, will facilitate this session as an extension of her work with Bradford Death Cafe. Come along to this event to feel free to speak in an open, inclusive space, to share your grief, thoughts on death, and share your experiences. Coffee and cake included. 

It’s important to note that this is a therapeutic space, but does not replace therapy. We find that talking about death can help us appreciate life. Everyone Welcome.

DROP IN WORKSHOPS

Paper art – making crepe paper flowers // 11am – 2pm // Garden

In this drop-in workshop, you will learn the art of making crepe paper flowers. In Eastern Europe, they adorned homes during holidays, decorated altars in churches, and embellished pictures of saints in households. In Ukraine, paper flowers were used in wreaths – traditional girls’ headdresses and ritual attributes.

Everyone is welcome to come and make, all materials included, drop in any time.

Badge Making // 11am – 3pm // Courtyard

Come and make your very own badge to take away there and then. This could be a Mindful May inspired badge, or you can make your own name, draw your favourite character, or any picture you wish! We will have paper, felt tips, pencils, collage elements and more for you to use to design your badge, and staff will be on hand to press and secure this, ready for you to keep.

Everyone is welcome to come and make, all materials included, drop in any time.

MUSIC

Sound Garden / Bring Your Own Vinyl Afternoon // 3 – 7pm /  Open decks 3-5pm // Garden

DJ Dom Sheard from ‘No Hands’ will help you play your vinyl alfresco in the South Square Garden. Dust off your revered LP collection and listen to your playlist outside in the glorious setting under the sun (hopefully). Bring your mellow tempos and laid-back funk for a mindful vibe.

If you want to bring your own vinyls and have a go at DJ-ing, or just bring your own vinyls for the DJ to play – let us know to add you to the list. Email [email protected]

EXHIBITIONS

Touch Points // Main Gallery

Running till Sunday 1st June

‘Touch Points’ is a group exhibition of digital interruptions, centred around the human body and how our experiences are shaped by technology. The artists in this exhibition use technology to offer an alternative perspective of our living experiences. 

Craig Delaney // Plenty at the Square

Running till Sunday 1st June

Craig says: ‘My work explores the intersections of consumerism, capitalism, and the pharmaceutical industry, using the blister pack as a central motif. This everyday object symbolizes both care and control, reflecting how our lives are commodified under late capitalism. Through painting, I examine the rituals of consumption and health, highlighting our reliance on pharmaceuticals while critiquing the profit-driven systems behind them.’

The second art trail in Thornton, BD13, Bradford, West Yorkshire takes place over the weekend of 14-15 June 2025. Visitors will find a huge variety of art and activity in a range of venues. There’s art in private houses, workshops in galleries, open studios, open air art demonstrations and much more. The trail can be started at any point. The total distance of a circuit is around a mile.

Find out more about the whole event here: THORNTON ART TRAIL

What are South Square doing at Thornton Art Trail? (more to be announced soon!)

SATURDAY: 

Open Studios // 11am – 4pm

Many of the artists and creators onsite at South Square will have an open door on their studios. Come in, take a look at their work, chat directly to the artists, and see their creative spaces.

Live DJ – Dip Mistry // 2pm – 4pm // Garden

Come and listen to DJ Dipak Mistry in our garden – AKA Mistryllaneous – he says ‘photographer, printmaker, educator, selector (not a dj). One of the DisOriental and No Hands Family: with a love of global beats, electronica, alt pop and beyond. Always got an ear out for new music!’

Kids craft // 11am – 4pm // Courtyard

Join us for some free crafty fun in the courtyard. They’ll be a huge mix of things to do from simple drawing and colouring, to zine making, collaging and more!

Drop in Art Workshop // 11am – 3pm // Community room

Join Artist Allanah Rhodes to unleash your creativity in a photography based workshop. It’s time to get making! Come along for a drop-in session of inspiration and skill building based on the village of Thornton. You can chose between doing a cyanotype workshop, using the images provided, or colouring sheets for the littler ones, or mono printing using oil pastels. Come along and have a go, all free!

SUNDAY:

Birstall Wood Turners // 11am – 4pm // Garden

Join the members of Birstall Wood Turners in the garden who will be doing some live demonstrations on their wood lathe. Birstall Wood Turners are a group of enthusiastic woodturners, of all abilities, who enjoy this wonderful hobby. Started in 1997, they are one of the largest clubs in the country and aim to promote the joys of woodturning.

Kids craft // 11am – 4pm // Courtyard

Zine making – Grab yourself a template from the gallery and get exploring! These templates have prompts to follow, such as ‘draw something red,’, ‘listen for 30 seconds and write what you hear’. The children can explore South Square Centre and by using prompts like below, they’ll draw, write, and study different things to make their own Zine.

Open Studios // 11am – 4pm

Many of the artists and creators onsite at South Square will have an open door on their studios. Come in, take a look at their work, chat directly to the artists, and see their creative spaces.

EXHIBITIONS:

‘2025 Beckfoot Thornton Showcase’ // 11am – 4pm // Community room

Students from the year 10 Art and Photography classes at Beckfoot Thornton present their end of year exhibition of work based on three themes ‘Expressionism, Angles, and Property’ which will showcase the hard work and creativity of this cohort. The exhibition will feature a diverse range of artwork, highlighting the skills and knowledge that they have developed throughout the academic year. We invite staff, students, families, and the community to join us in celebrating their achievements.

Razwan Ul-haq – Augmenting the DNA of our city // Main Gallery

Following on from the success of ‘Fighting to be Heard’, Bradford’s very own Arabic Calligrapher Razwan Ul-Haq continues his pioneering multi-disciplinary approach. In this district-wide project, he brings Bradford’s environment to life. Since 2024, with the help of Bradford residents, Razwan has been extracting ink from our city’s resources – bricks from Bradford’s iconic architecture, soil from Bradford City Football Club, rocks and stones from the rivers of Bradford, and even certain plants. Arabic Calligraphy Workshops with one of these inks have taken place all over Bradford, and have included a Virtual Reality element.