(Image: Samantha Lewis)
WHEN I found out Bradford city centre was getting its first-ever outdoor music weekender, I'll admit I wasn't sure what to expect.
Darley Street Market isn't the venue you'd automatically picture hosting a festival - but Live at the Courtyard, which ran last weekend with Pulled Apart By Horses, Lucy Spraggan and The Hoosiers headlining across the three nights, proved that an unlikely location can work.
I went along on Saturday for Lucy Spraggan's set.
Walking in, the courtyard felt smaller and more intimate than I’d pictured - but there was still room for a substantial crowd without it ever feeling crammed or overcrowded.
With tickets starting at £18, the event was also a relatively accessible way to see artists.
Pulled Apart By Horses perform at Live at the Courtyard in Bradford
(Image: Jim Mumby (T&A Camera Club))
Lucy Spraggan performance
Spraggan clearly felt the novelty of the setting herself.
Between songs, she admitted she still couldn't quite believe she was performing in an actual courtyard - though she was clearly enjoying every minute of it.
It was just her and her guitar up there, and that stripped-back setup only added to how intimate the whole thing felt, tucked into the middle of the city centre.
Lucy Spraggan performing at Live at the Courtyard in Bradford
(Image: Samantha Lewis)
The set moved comfortably between Last Night and newer material, but it was when the requested songJeremy Kyle came on that really demonstrated how well the stripped-back setting suited her.
Her stage presence was warm, funny and unfiltered in exactly the way her fans know her for, and the audience knew almost every lyric - the singalongs and crowd participation were spot-on throughout.
Could we see Live at the Courtyard again?
By the time the set wrapped up, it was hard not to come away thinking Darley Street Market might genuinely be onto something.
Darley Street Market
(Image: Other)
It’s early days - this is a first-year event, and first years are always something of a trial run - but as a proof of concept, it worked.
A city centre market space turned into a proper outdoor music venue for a weekend, with a headline bill that pulled a crowd.
If Live at the Courtyard comes back next year, it deserves to.