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Byronmania Returns to Italy

The Palazzo Guiccioli in Ravenna, which Lord Byron called home for two years, has had a major renovation – now housing a new immersive experience which centres on Nottinghamshire’s most renowned poet. Stuart Baird has been out there to tell us more...

Cabaret, tug of war and speed skating: Here's what's on in Notts this week 1-7 September 2025

This week brings you a brilliant range of events in Notts, whether you are a theatre lover or a sporting fanatic, there's plenty in store to kick off your September. Here are our top picks for the week...

We catch up with singer, musician and mod icon Miles Kane

From being a Little Flame to a Rascal and a Last Shadow Puppet, Liverpudlian mod brother Miles Kane has built a stellar career spanning more than 20 years. Now, happily ploughing his own furrow again, he returns to Nottingham next month to promote his latest long-player, Sunlight In The Shadows, with a date at Rough Trade. LeftLion caught up with him to bask in the rays of promotional duties to talk Nashville, Nottingham and Northern curry sauce…

LeftLion Issue #187 September 2025

Festival review: Foolhardy Folk Festival 2025

Out of time: a idiosyncratic history of adult cinemas and shops in Notts

Sex sells….or so we’ve heard. We take a look back at Nottingham’s history of ‘adult’ entertainment cinemas and shops.

From grassroots to Fields: we speak with rising local band Drury Hill

Nottingham born-and-bred Drury Hill are one of the emerging bands repopulating the local grassroots music scene with a softer rock, post-folk influenced sound. Transitioning between softly lilting, storytelling tracks and jangly, spirited choruses you find yourself humming days afterwards, the four-piece’s live gigs and recent EP Fields capture a fittingly self-described "soft rockin’, slacker poppin’’ voice. But their DIY, offbeat and grassroots ethos runs deeper than their distinct sound; Drury Hill have always been shaped by the band members’ shared adolescence in Nottingham. We met with Charley to talk about the ways a sense of place seeps into their songwriting, the nostalgia that infuses Fields, and the support of the grassroots music scene...

Feeling supersonic: how Sonic Boom Festival is boosting the arts in Burton-on-Trent

Sonic Boom Festival might only be in its second year, but it’s already made a mighty bang in the nearby Burton-on-Trent — and if founders and organisers Chris Baldwin and Andi Jepson have anything to do with it, the aftershocks are just getting started.

Overheard in Notts: September 2025

It's another instalment of Overheard in Notts - this month we focus in on pork pies, cable cars, and the Morrisey of Mapperley...

LeftLion Interviews Podcast #12: Writer James Graham on Dear England, Sherwood, Broadway, London theatre and writing for stage and screen

Our latest episode is a conversation with the Notts-born Showrunner of BBC TV's Sherwood, who is taking Notts to New York stages and returning home to celebrate the 160th Birthday of Nottingham's Theatre Royal...

Gardening tips, raves and tours: Here's what's on in Notts this week, 25 - 31 August

This weeks brings you tours galore, from gardening tours to archery tours with Robin Hood and Maid Marian. Here's our picks of the week... 

LeftLion's Latest Listens #30: Notts music we're currently spinning

We've reached the thirtieth edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens! This week, our music team reviews new releases from katie., Lucas, MCØ and Bradley McKnight...

Playwright Caroline Bird on writing The Last Stand Of Mrs Mary Whitehouse

The Playhouse continues its streak of consequential new plays with the upcoming The Last Stand Of Mrs Mary Whitehouse, starring Maxine Peake behind those infamous horn-rimmed spectacles. Caroline Bird speaks to Leftlion about how and why she wrote about the 'most dangerous woman in Britain'... 

Left Stag: August 2025

Our man at Mansfield Town FC, Josh Osoro Pickering, is back with the latest musings on a tough start to the season for the Stags...

Theatre Interview: Dan Lewis

Steptoe and Son ride again at the Nottingham Arts Theatre. Actor Dan Lewis shares his trip on the rag and bone cart as the curmudgeonly Albert... 

By youth, for youth: Nottingham celebrates 25 years of International Youth Day

This year marked the 25th anniversary of International Youth Day; we headed down to the pop-up shop organised by Nottingham City of Literature’s Youth Board to join in with the celebrations...

Musicals, outdoor cinema and music gigs: Here's what's on in Notts this week, 18 - 25 August

While it's nearing the end of a summer of fun, Notts will never run of fun things to do. Here's our pick of the week...

LeftLion's Latest Listens #29: Notts music we're currently spinning

Summer's not over yet, and the new music just keeps coming, too! In this edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens for 2025, our music team reviews new releases from Blu Syrup, The Doubtfires, Long Pockets, Michael Vickers and Nicole Hannah...

Exhibition review: the New Art Exchange Open Exhibition

How do you capture and represent the vast talent of artists across the UK? How can an organisation elevate this work, highlight key themes, and further its own mission in the process? At its core, the New Art Exchange Open Exhibition provides answers to these questions.

Festival review: LeftLion at Y Not Festival 2025

This year, the turnout for Y Not Festival was unmatched and another big musical step forward for Nottingham artists. Along with huge bands including The Prodigy, Courteeners, Franz Ferdinand, The Last Dinner Party, Sigrid, and Madness, the festival audience from all over the country witnessed many of our own city's top bands in a diverse, friendly and passionately musical environment. LeftLion was there to sample as much of the local action as possible...

Under the microscope: who won NTU's Images of Research competition 2025?

What is this intriguing image you may ask? No, it’s not a distant vision of our universe or a throwback to an early 2000s screensaver. Each year the talented researchers at Nottingham Trent University – at which 86% of research is classed as world-leading or internationally excellent – are asked to submit one photo of their discoveries to the annual Images of Research competition. 

This year’s winner is Shraddha Bajpai, a Research Assistant in the School of Science and Technology, who took viewers deep into our genetic make-up with her image, Last Duct Standing.

LeftLion's Latest Listens #28: Notts music we're currently spinning

With summer at its height, here's what our music team has been listening to recently. In this edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens, we review releases from Antonio Panzera, Marvin's Revenge, Richard Snow and EMiDORA & Darling I Dreamt

Hang Linton on making good trouble, second-hand iPods and playing Nottingham's woodworking studio

Ahead of their forthcoming gig at By Our Hands We Make Our Way this month, we caught up with Leeds-based interdisciplinary artist Hang Linton...

Art Works: Solomon Lewis Hunter, leader and costume maker at Inspire Urself carnival troupe

For this month’s Artworks, ahead of Nottingham Carnival, we spoke to Solomon Lewis Hunter, who leads and designs costumes for the local carnival troupe Inspire Urself. 

Adventure trails, live music and disco nights: Here's what's on in Notts this week 4 - 10 August 2025

 This week brings to you an assortment of events. Whether it be music or theatre or an antiquarians expedition, we got you covered. Here are our picks of this week...