Welcome to our annual culture review of 2024, a year marked by a national changing-of-the-guard from fourteen years of the Tories. On a local level, we saw highs and lows in Nottingham arts and culture, from the sad final days of some loved businesses to inspiring successes for individuals, artists, groups and charities….
January
We start the year with sweeping cuts to local libraries and culture organisations in the city, due to Nottingham City Council’s Section 114 Notice. Those most affected by this are Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature, City Arts, New Art Exchange and the Binns Organ Trust. All of them start the year on the back foot financially.
Notts-based online radio station MyHouseYourHouse says goodbye after 19 years with a big party at Poison bar. It’s announced that Splendour Festival 2024 will not take place, due to delays caused by a new Nottingham City Council tendering process, meaning that organisers DHP Family don’t have enough time to plan it. All in all, a bleak month, but to end with some positive news, Beat The Streets Festival takes place and raises over £80k to help local homelessness charity Framework.
February
Nottingham-born actor Samantha Morton is awarded a BAFTA Fellowship in recognition of her outstanding and exceptional contribution to film. In her acceptance speech she talks about her early life growing up in care homes here and thanks both the Television Workshop and Nottingham. This comes just a couple of months after local director Shane Meadows delivered the annual BAFTA David Lean Lecture. More about him later.
A petition to say ‘No To Nottingham Cuts’ is put together by a group going under the name of Resolve. It gathers 12,000 signatures and is delivered by a group of local culture representatives (including our very own Adam Pickering) to 10 Downing Street. Unfortunately Rishi Sunak doesn’t answer the door on this occasion.
A very public battle begins between Nottingham Forest and Nottingham City Council about the terms of the lease on The City Ground (which is on council-owned land). The authority is looking to increase its annual rent from £250,000 to about £1m per year or to sell the freehold to the site to the club. The club go public about this and lots of Forest fans start to get upset as rumours abound of a new stadium in Toton.
March
Rishi Sunak visits Nottingham. Sadly it’s not in response to the petition about local council cuts, but to promote his party in the May local elections. He makes a public appearance at TrentBarton’s Langley Mill depot to discuss new funding for electric buses. He also pops up at The City Ground, but definitely doesn’t discuss the £100k donation that club owner Evangelos Marinakis recently made to his party. The Chameleon, a live music venue on Angel Row, where bands like Sleaford Mods cut their teeth, closes its doors for the last time due to the owners selling the building.
Nottingham Television Workshop alumnus Bella Ramsey is shortlisted for the award of Best Leading Actress at the 2024 BAFTA awards for her extraordinary performance in The Last of Us. Bella doesn’t win it (it goes to Sarah Lancashire for Happy Valley) but having only just turned 20 there’s plenty of time for all that.
April
Nottingham Puppet Festival takes place across the city, putting on dozens of events for families and fanatics. Big scoops include performances from Rainbow’s Zippy (and his puppeteer Ronnie le Drew) and Sooty (and his puppeteer Richard Cadell).
Notts-based Jayahadadream wins Glastonbury Festival's Emerging Talent Competition. She is chosen by a panel of judges, including festival organiser Emily Eavis. Among the prizes is a set on one of the main stages at the 2024 festival.
May
Sneinton-based art gallery and studios Backlit receives almost half a million in funding from Arts Council England, thanks to its government-funded Capital Investment Programme. They plan to use this windfall to buy and develop their building on Ashley Street.
Local elections take place for two roles. Claire Ward (Labour) becomes the first Mayor of the East Midlands, taking 41% of the votes in a six-way contest with a 27.5% voter turnout. Gary Godden (Labour) wins the Notts Police and Crime Commissioner election, gaining more than half of the votes in a 3-way contest with a 35% voter turnout. Incumbent Caroline Henry (Conservative) vacates her office almost as swiftly as the half dozen speeding tickets she racked up in post.
An account which appears to be from 90s R&B singer turned modern-day street beggar Whycliffe (aka Donovan Whycliffe Bromwell) appears on Facebook, showing signs of him getting his life back in order. As someone we interviewed way back in issue 2, he’s battled more demons than most. If the positive vibes from this account continue (and they do up until our deadline) then it’s probably the best news of the year for us. Local disco-lovers Soulbuggin’ celebrate their 20th Birthday with the release of a fanzine and plenty more besides.
June
We at LeftLion complete a National Lottery Heritage Fund project digitally archiving the contents of two important Nottingham football fanzines from the decades gone by. These are Brian (a Forest fanzine) and The Pie (Notts County) and it climaxes with a sold out celebration event at Metronome. Give it a google if you’d like to find out more.
Castle Rock is named ‘Pub Group of the Year’ at the National Pub & Bar Awards, beating off competition from big guns like Everards, St Austell, Adnams and Heavitree. We’re sure a few pints of Harvest Pale were sunk in celebration that night. The first ever Notts Trans Pride event takes place at the New Foresters pub.
July
Thursday 4 July is the date of the first UK General Election since 2019 and following the public vote our local results very much mirror the bigger picture. Labour holds all of its seats here as well as turning Bassetlaw, Broxtowe, Gedling, Mansfield, Rushcliffe and Sherwood Forest all from blue to red. Ashfield’s MP Lee Anderson turns himself from Conservative blue to yucky Reform turquoise, six years after his previous defection from Labour. Robert Jenrick keeps his seat in Newark and later in the year comes second in the race to succeed Rishi as leader of the party.
The stalemate over The City Ground ends after a deal for Nottingham City Council to sell the lease on the ground to the club, warding off the possibility of a move to Toton.
August
Nottingham’s World Service Restaurant closes its doors exactly after 24 years of exquisite cuisine in Castle Gate. The owners cite changes in the dining market as the reason, and it won’t be the only hospitality business that the city will say goodbye to this year.
The 2024 Olympics take place in Paris and Nottingham’s residents and university alumni turn up, including; Emma Wilson (sailing), Adam Burgess (canoeing), Becky Downie (gymnastics) and David Ames, Conor Williamson, Tom Sorsby, Nick Park, Kyle Marshall and Nike Lorenz (hockey). However, the biggest shout goes to Bulwell-born weightlifter Emily Campbell who brings home a bronze medal.
Talented illustrator and artist Emily Catherine launches her first major exhibition I Can Heal You And Give You Art at Richmond House. Former England football manager and Notts County FC Director of Football, Sven Goran Erikkson dies after a battle with cancer.
September
The 2024 Paralympics take place in Paris and Nottingham is represented by Sophie Hahn (athletics), David Phillipson and Charlotte Henshaw (canoeing), Abbie Breakwell (wheelchair tennis) and Richard Whitehead (commentary). The biggest Notts winner, however, is Tully Kearney who comes back with two gold medals for swimming.
The Palais re-opens as a nightclub after being bought out by the owners of Rock City. It originally closed (as Pryzm) in February and its future looked bleak, but under new management it should now be open to celebrate its 100th birthday in 2025. Danielle Moore, the lead singer of disco, house and funk band Crazy P passes away at 52 in circumstances described by the band as ‘sudden and tragic’.
October
October is always the busiest month for events in Nottingham and this year we had public appearances from local legends like the Kanneh Masons (Royal Concert Hall), Young T and Bugsy (Rescue Rooms), Paul Smith and Su Pollard (Nottingham Playhouse) and Shane Meadows (LeftLion at the Library).
Obviously, we were particularly pleased to do the event with Shane as it marked twenty years since we’d interviewed him for our first ever printed issue. The night before we’d also seen him at a charity ball organised by the Television Workshop which helped raise over £35k for a brilliant local charity. Shane won the bidding to be an extra on ITV’s Midsummer Murders, so don’t be too surprised if you see him in front of the camera instead at some point next year.
Craig Chettle steps down from Confetti after 30 years of leading the charge for further and higher education in creative industries. Big round of applause from us for all your work. Hockley Hustle takes over Notts as usual, raising both the aspirations of our local creatives and money for local charities.
There are big moves in the world of independent food traders. 200 Degrees sell off their entire operation (including their 5 Notts-based stores and roastery) to Caffe Nero. Mixed feelings on this: happy for the owners on their success, but sad to see such a well-loved local institution now in the hands of a company notorious for tax-dodging. Much sadder is the news that Annie’s Burger Shack completely goes under. Its Derby offshoot closed in January and in early October the flagship Notts store on Broadway closed without any public statement (and from the sounds of it the staff didn’t know either).
November
The Bodega celebrate 25 years of gigs with gigs from Sleaford Mods and Pip Blom. Meanwhile, greengrocer-turned-gig-venue JT Soar celebrates 15 years of gigs with a 2-day music festival over at The Old Cold Store.
Notts-born artist and LeftLion contributor Sarah Cunningham passes away. A talented painter and artist, she had exhibited her work internationally and at the tender age of 31 had so much life ahead of her. It’s tragic news and our thoughts remain with her friends and family.
December
It’s always hard to write December, as we publish this in November but we know there will be no Christmas at Wollaton Hall this year as the event organisers decide to call it off after a ‘difficult operating year’. Vicky McClure’s Day Fever disco takes over Rock City for a New Year’s Eve party that finishes early enough for you to stay til the end, get the bus home and watch Jools Holland.
Nottingham’s theatres turn themselves over to panto for Christmas as usual. The Playhouse is showing Jack and the Beanstalk. The Theatre Royal brings out the all-stars for Peter Pan, starring Gok Wan, Paul Chuckle, Denise Welch (Coronation Street), and Steve Hewlett (Britain’s Got Talent).
We at LeftLion wish you and yours a merry christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2025!
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
