Crowd to pull the strings for festival tightrope act

The tightrope walkers will rely on audience power to pull the high wire taut during the performance

Tightrope walkers will take to the high wire in Bradford city centre later - with members of the audience asked to help keep the rope taut.

French act Cie Basinga will stage its high-wire show in City Park as the two-day BD: Festival gets under way, marking the group's first UK performance.

Artistic directors Jan Naets and Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga will walk along the 25m (82ft) wire which will be suspended more than 4m (13ft) above the ground.

Audience members will pull on a rope connected to a pulley system to keep the wire taut, and Bongonga said: "It's a question of trust and just doing something together."

Naets, 48, who is also the group's technical manager, is originally from Belgium but is now based with the troupe near Montpellier in the south of France.

He said: "We perform our show Soka Tira Osoa which means 'a game of pulling the rope'.

"We are asking the audience to get the tension in the wire to make it possible for Tatiana and myself to walk on the line."

Jan Naets and Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga will walk along the high wire in City Park

He added: "We need 2.2 tonnes of tension at certain moments in the show.

"It's them (the audience) pulling these 2.2 tonnes all together.

"You'll see all these small hands on the front row pulling it.

"We can't do this performance by ourselves, we need others to do it.

"And that is one of the themes of the performance."

Audience members will help keep the high wire taut with the help of a series of pulleys and concrete blocks

Councillor Sarah Ferriby of Bradford Council said: "This performance promises to be absolutely amazing.

"It is powerful in its choreography, music and message that by working together we can do anything - something we can all relate to."

The BD: Festival is a free event run by Bradford Council in collaboration with the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture team.

It features live performances in City Park as well as food and drink stalls, and art workshops.

Saturday's highlight act is Zee and the City, featuring a 4m puppet which will make its way through the city centre.

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