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Inside Mayhem Film Festival: Celebrating Independent Genre Cinema in Nottingham

Mayhem Film Festival co-directors Steven Sheil, Meli Gueneau and Chris Cooke discuss the festival’s 21-year journey, its role in championing independent and international filmmakers, and why Nottingham’s genre film community continues to thrive.

Dabbling in the Dark Arts: we catch up with organisers of the Dark Arts Market

It’s officially the spooky season, but for Fiona Holmes and Elyssa Fleming, the eldritch, strange and eerie is more than just an aesthetic that ends with Halloween. They talk to LeftLion about how they created The Dark Arts Market, a place where all ‘alt’ artists and creatives, at all stages of their creative career, can feel seen and supported. 

What Large Cyber Incidents Show About Everyday Digital Security

Large cyber incidents can feel distant until the exposed information sounds familiar: passport numbers, financial details, identity records, contact information and login credentials belonging to ordinary people. When this type of information is accessed or leaked, the consequences can move far beyond the organization where the incident first happened.

We chat to Ibibio Sound Machine's Eno Williams ahead of the band's Rescue Rooms show

Ibibio Sound Machine are a leading act within African and Electronic music. They have had multiple appearances on Later... with Jools Holland and countless plays across the BBC. They bring a showstopping performance to every stage they grace and have echoed the walls of Wembley Stadium. LeftLion sat down with frontwoman Eno Williams to discuss their latest release, Chopping Mountain, and their ongoing tour, reflecting on making music now compared to their 2014 debut, as well as that moment Coldplay asked the band to open for them in the UK’s biggest stadium...

Mansfield Town Film Festival Celebrates Independent Film at 2026 Awards

The 2026 Mansfield Town Film Festival celebrated independent cinema and diverse voices, recognising filmmakers across a range of categories. With award-winning films, inspiring stories from local and international creatives, and its BIFA-qualifying status, MTFF continues to champion emerging talent and establish Mansfield as a growing hub for independent filmmaking.

20 Years of Hockley Hustle

This month, Nottingham city’s biggest independent arts and music festival, the brilliant Hockley Hustle, is celebrating twenty years of bringing sound and colour to our streets. Showcasing an eye-watering array of genres and talent, the festival is more than just a good time – it’s raised over £250K for 27 local charities, as well as providing stages for thousands of artists from Nottingham and beyond. 

This year, the Hustle is back on Sunday 25 October, bringing 500 acts to fifty stages. You’ll be able to catch the carnival, chill to some acoustic sounds, dance at the silent disco, enjoy punk, soul, Hip-Hop, and more.

To celebrate, here’s what the Hustle’s massive team of promoters, mainstay artists, and central organisers remember most fondly about the last twenty years of music and mayhem…

Festival review: Beeston Oxjam 2026

Art Works: Natalie Coe on her new Notts Broad Marsh mural

For this month’s Art Works, Natalie Coe (aka Talia) tells us about her new public mural which features as part of the Broad Marsh redevelopment, in collaboration with Art Fest… 

Imara Charity Art Sale raises money for survivors of childhood sexual and domestic abuse

Ahead of the Imara Charity Art Sale, which previews this Saturday at Broadway Gallery, Isabel Scott spoke to Imara Fundraiser Kirsty K to find out more about the important work of the charity and why you should spruce up your walls with some of the art they have on offer.

LeftLion's Latest Listens #53: Notts music we're currently spinning

In the 53rd edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens, our music team reviews releases from Otala, Matt Blaney, Wayne Banks and Make Strangers...

LeftLion Issue #200 October 2026

It's our 200th issue featuring Kid30, Claire Ward the Mayor of the East Midlands, Hockley Hustle, Neon Raptor, Nottingham Arts Theatre, psychic Kerry Ward and lots more...

Comedy Interview: Ben Macpherson from Nottingham Comedy Festival

Ben is a familiar face on the Nottingham comedy circuit, including Club Wormhole and Apple of Discord. And in November he's one of the acts at the Nottingham Comedy Festival. He shares some of his comedy secrets with Left Lion...

The Scientist: LeftLion chats 20 years of With Love And Squalor with We Are Scientists' Keith Murray

20 years ago, in the midst of an indie boom kickstarted by a thriving New York rock scene, We Are Scientists emerged as the band seemingly just there for a good time, rather than a long time. However, two decades and nine albums later, they have become one of the mainstays from that flourishing mid-00s period, all thanks to a consistently solid discography and their natural chemistry with one another. Ahead of their show at Rock City later this week celebrating 20 years of their beloved debut album, With Love And Squalor, LeftLion caught up with the band’s charismatic frontman, Keith Murray…

Overheard in Notts: September 2026

Nicotine and the Babadook feature in this month's Overheard in Notts. 

In photos: Sonic Boom Festival 2026

Sonic Boom, the independent and - amazingly - free music festival, once again took over Burton on Trent town centre, showcasing the best local artists and some from further afield. Nigel King documented the day...

LeftLion's Latest Listens #52: Notts music we're currently spinning

For the 52nd edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens, our music team reviews new releases from Mondo, Hunch Power, Eyre Llew and Blu Syrup...

Art Fest 2026: what's happening this year?

After bringing over thirty murals to Nottingham in the past five years, Art Fest is doing things differently in 2026. Through exhibitions, street art tours, talks and workshops, this year’s programme celebrates Nottingham’s visual artists while opening conversations about what comes next… 

Stage Interview: Dan Lewis on Tommy Cooper – Have I Got Time For More?

A new show celebrating comedy giant Tommy Cooper visits Nottingham this November. Director, actor and producer, Dan Lewis, sits down with Left Lion to share the importance of being Tommy. Just like that...   

18 of the best independent places to eat in Nottingham on a Monday

Mondays in the city can be a bit of a culinary minefield. After a busy weekend, plenty of independent restaurants and cafés take the day off – and quite rightly so. But that doesn’t mean you have to resign yourself to a sad meal deal when the Monday hunger starts calling. Whether you’re starting the week with a catch-up over coffee, looking for a proper lunch, or fancy treating yourself to dinner, our Food Co-editor and Nottingham Food Guide founder Julia has rounded up eighteen of the best places to eat in Nottingham on a Monday.

Theatre Review: Grindr the Opera at the Nottingham Arts Theatre

If you’ve ever opened Grindr “just for a look” and somehow found yourself three hours later discussing your entire life with a stranger, then Grindr: The Opera might feel less like theatre and more like an intervention...

Undercover artist: Iulia Matei celebrates creative pastimes with our September 2026 cover

This month’s cover artist Iulia Matei talks comics, creativity and letting things figure themselves out.

What is Trentbelly? Inside the first river-focused episode of local podcast NottsPod

After one of his pupils caught a case of ‘Trentbelly’, the local nomenclature for illness caught from a polluted River Trent, secondary school teacher Tom Suchoruczka became curious about how the river got to the state it is now. This led Tom to team up with Notts historian and YouTuber Michael Krawec, and together they went down a research wormhole which culminated in Trentbelly – the first series of new podcast NottsPod. Here, by way of laying the groundwork for that, Michael talks us through the winding history of Nottingham’s modern day water system.

Left Brian Sept 2026 - Glasnerism

For fans of the red team it’s been quite the summer for upgrading to a new leader who seems to have genuine beliefs and a determination to implement them. For this edition of Left Brian, I’ll focus on the steady opening month for Oliver Glasner’s Nottingham Forest...

Stage Interview: Tracy Radford, artistic director at Unanima Youth Performance Academy

The Unanima Youth Performance Academy supports people with learning disabilities, developing theatrical skills and creating opportunities to perform. And they have just been awarded a grant to take their work to new levels. Tracy Radford, CEO and Artistic Director, shares the story of their success with Left Lion... 

Mansfield Town Film Festival 2026: in conversation with director Jay Martin

Coming up later this month, Mansfield Town Film Festival provides a packed three day schedule of working-class voices, locally made films, live screenings, masterclasses, and Q&As. We spoke to festival director Jay Martin about representation, community and why Mansfield is putting the East Midlands firmly on the cinema map…