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Lola Young, Day Fever and the Festival of Food and Drink: Here's what's on in Notts this week 15-21 September 2025

Nottingham is hosting a diverse range of events this week, from back-to-back musical performances arranged by Rough Trade to a majestic murder mystery dinner night and a 2000s emo festival. Be it enjoying comedic nostalgia with Friends on stage or witnessing an epic confrontation between local poets, there is something for everyone and this week's top picks from our city are...

These streets are ours: Sneinton Market Avenues

For this instalment of These Streets are Ours we celebrate the creative hub of Sneinton Market Avenues…

Night Creatures Podcast #1: Felix Coulton (aka OK Flex) on founding Swing Dash Radio and opening Movers in Hockley

Night Creatures is a new LeftLion podcast, shining a light on the promoters of Nottingham. Your host and interviewer is Beane, co-founder of Nottingham’s beloved Soul Buggin’ night and he brings with him over twenty years of experience of putting on great parties in the city...

Left Stag: September 2025 Stags away, I like it! 

Our Mansfield Town FC writer, Josh Osoro Pickering, is back with tales of a well-travelled period for the Stags... 

Theatre Review: The Last Stand Of Mary Whitehouse at the Nottingham Playhouse

Today's youth might think Mary Whitehouse was some cartoonish figure-of-fun. A prude and a bigot, leftover from the Victorian era. Not at all. Known as the most dangerous woman in England at the time, she wreaked havoc. The Playhouse's brand new play shares the horror...  

Gig review: Sancho Panza at The Bodega

On Saturday, The Bodega set the stage for a funk-soaked evening in celebration of Sancho Panza's latest single, Your place or mine?. Headlining the night, the band delivered a performance that felt like a milestone moment for Nottingham’s live music scene. Supported by two other local bands, Stone Black Witches and Soft Serve, the lineup showcased our city’s thriving wave of talent. And of course, LeftLion was there too...

We speak to Dan Cunningham of Vona Vella

Nottingham five-piece Vona Vella formed in lockdown and have gone from strength to strength since. Gigging around Notts - and co-managing The Grove - has seen them hone their skills and build up a loyal following. We caught up with singer-songwriter Dan Cunningham to talk about Bear Trap, forging their own path in the industry and the benefits of ditching London...

Exploring street art in Beeston with Jeanie Barton

Over the past ten years, the suburb south-west of Notts: Beeston, has become a hub for striking and inspiring street art, thanks to the efforts of the ever-industrious Beeston Civic Society. From tributes to Nottingham legends like Paul Smith and Richard Beckinsale, to an artistic interpretation of the butterflies that migrate from Africa to Attenborough Nature Reserve and Beeston Marina, take a stroll through Beeston and you’ll be treated to many visual treats lauding local culture. We asked Jeanie Barton, the person who set the Beeston street art wheels in motion, to tell us more about it.

Life in Light: catching up with landscape photographer Tracey Whitefoot

Born and bred in Nottingham, Tracey Whitefoot has spent the last two decades as a freelance photographer. In that time she’s photographed a lot of famous faces, as well as capturing the amazing cityscapes she has become known for. We asked her about her work and her exhibition, My Life In Light, currently on show at Nottingham Central Library…

Chaos reigns, cowbells ring: We chat to Midnight Rodeo

Saddle up for the Midnight Rodeo. Behind the surf and soul of Nottingham’s most anticipated outfit, LeftLion's Talia Robinson sat down with Maddy Chamberlain and Jim McBride to discover just how they turned chaos into craft...

Theatre Review: Blood Brothers at the Theatre Royal

Lyv Forever: local artist Lyvia talks virality and playing live

While the words ‘street art’ automatically make you think of colourful graffiti, Nottingham musician LYVIA creates hers in a unique and quite literal way. Thanks to a visionary videographer and a lucky twist of fate, her viral performances on the corner of Maid Marian Way have transformed her from ambitious local busker to national soul-rap sensation with a huge social media following. We sat down to get the story behind her rapid rise and her forthcoming new mixtape…

Folklore and Fear: Darren Simpson discusses his latest scary novel Thirst

Known for his gritty, thought-provoking books for older children, we caught up with self-professed cake lover and award-winning author Darren Simpson to discuss how fear and folklore have inspired his latest chilling tale, Thirst...

Gig review: GANS at The Bodega, with Hungry

Brum two-piece GANS  are quickly finding themselves in quite the spotlight. Despite only forming in 2023, guitarist Thomas Rhodes and drummer Euan Woodman have already got a discography that borrows from industrial rock, alternative and techno to create massive sounds. LeftLion headed down to The Bodega to find out exactly what the fuss was all about...