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An interview with Pippa Hennessy, Notts' literary linchpin

From jointly masterminding Nottingham's bid to become a UNESCO City of Literature, to helping the Nottingham Writers' Studio to flourish, if there's something amazing and literary going in Notts then it's usually got Pippa Hennessy's fingerprints on it. As Five Leaves opens up submissions for pamphlets from debut poets, we chatted to Pippa, who'll be editing the series, to get the latest scoop...

A Decade on Screen: 10 great moments from Notts TV

With local journalism becoming an endangered species in recent years, Nottingham is very lucky to have Notts TV. Along with training our students to become broadcasters and journalists, the company has made their mark over the years in both modest and mighty ways. Here’s some of their best moments, according to Channel Manager Chris Breese…

LeftLion's Guide to Summer Festivals 2024

The sun is out, summer is here, which can only mean one thing – it’s officially festival season! And while not everyone is lucky enough to win the Worthy Farm lottery by getting tickets to Glastonbury, the good news is there are plenty of incredible events happening right on our doorstep. To give you the lowdown, here’s our ultimate guide to the best local festivals taking place in Nottingham and the surrounding areas over the next few months…

Bearing Fruit: We hear from Fruit Market, who are providing low-energy homes and community-first architecture in Sneinton Market

A once crumbling Sneinton Market has become a thriving new neighbourhood of independent businesses. Providing low-energy homes with considerate, community-first architecture, Fruit Market is the next chapter in a story of local organic regeneration

LeftLion Issue #172 June 2024

Featuring Craig Chettle of Confetti, 10 years of Notts TV, Alex Bond, Nadia on the General Election, Summer Festivals and Euro 2024...

Overheard in Notts: May 2024

Ah crap are you those doomsday people?

Locating Lawrence: May 1924

Literature’s greatest DIYer has replaced his pen for a trowel…

Ebenezer Cobham Brewer: The Victorian writer from Notts who created his own dictionary

For more than 150 years, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable has been a prized possession for imaginative authors. In a house near Sherwood Forest, we remember the man who first wrote it…

How local football team Fanzines United FC was created from a conversation in Selectadisc record shop

In 1990 a conversation in Selectadisc record shop led to a group of Notts County and Nottingham Forest fanzine creators putting their rivalries aside to form a football team together. Fanzines United FC was formed and is still going strong to this day. Andy Lowe, founder of the Tricky Tree fanzine explains how it happened…

The creators of Queer Notts and Moan Zine tell us why the medium lends itself perfectly to queer creativity and community

The creators of Queer Notts and Moan Zine tell us why the medium lends itself perfectly to queer creativity and community.

Glastonbudget 2024: the Original Tribute Festival returns from Thursday 23 - Sunday 26 May

Glastonbudget - which lays claim to being "the original tribute festival, keeping the music alive since 2005". Acts acting as other acts gracing the stage this year include The Bon Jovi Experience, Flash: A Tribute to Queen, ABBA Revival, Absolute Bowie, The Police Academy and many more. But there's plenty of local talent on offer too.

Martin Kemp to Headline Notts' Boho Festival in July, with Tickets Starting at £35 for Adults

You don't have to travel halfway across the country, or blow half your savings, to get that festival feeling - Notts' own Boho Festival is one offer closer to home that hopes to tick all your boxes...

We Speak to Jim Cooke, Co-founder of 1980s-2000s Notts County Football Fanzine The Pie

Merging football, music and real ale, Notts County fanzine The Pie took football back to the community when it ran over 87 issues from the late 80s to the late 00s. We speak to one of the original founders Jim Cooke about the history of the publication...

A History of Notts County fanzines

For a relatively small league club Notts County more than punched its weight in fanzines. The Pie was the dominating one in the scene, but there were quite  a few others over the years…

Comic festivals, choirs, funky soul and jazz, and gigs: here's what's on in Notts 13 - 19 May

Sing, dance, create and learn in Notts this week, with a lovely hodgepodge of events across the city...

Sneinton’s Backlit Gallery to receive almost £500k in funding from Arts Council England

Fantastic news for Nottingham’s creative community as Sneinton’s Backlit Gallery is set to receive Arts Council funding to secure and develop their building.

We Speak to Julie Pritchard, Creator of 1980s-90s Nottingham Forest Football Fanzine Brian

It’s the late ‘80s, the internet doesn’t exist yet, and neither does the Premier League. However, the community around local football clubs is strong and one avid supporter, Julie Pritchard, decides it’s time for a Nottingham Forest fanzine. Thus Brian is born lasting eight years and 47 issues…

Free Green Hustle Festival Returns to Old Market Square this June

Green Hustle returns on Saturday 1 June with another all singing, soil-slinging festival of positive action, and it's all taking place smack bang in the middle of town...

A vegan market, coffee club, opera and a fair dedicated to records and a love of music: Here’s what’s on in Nottingham this week: 6 May – 12 May 2024

This week in Nottingham! Get yourself down to a market selling only vegan produce, a vinyl record fair, some opera and a friendly coffee club

We take a look at the history of zines, including many homegrown mini-mags made right here in Notts

From its roots in 30s sci-fi fan fiction and 70s New York punk, the illustrious medium of the zine has sprouted many fascinating publications, with many homegrown mini-mags made right here in Notts. Let us take you on a whistlestop tour of this curious corner of culture…

LeftLion Issue #171 May 2024

This month's edition of LeftLion takes a deep dive into the world of fanzines and indie publishing in Nottingham. Read about football fanzines The Pie and Brian, St Ann's anarchist archive Sparrows' Nest, a new exhibition about the Women's Liberation Movement in Nottingham, and hear from the creators of Moan Zine and Queer Zine. We also interview Notts party people Soul Buggin', businessman Brian Butterfield, and Skate Nottingham.

Overheard in Notts: April 2024

We Discover More About Fascinating Finds from Nottingham’s Caves, the new exhibition at Nottingham University Museum

Nottingham is a unique city, the home to many famous historical figures, it’s a place brimming with culture and history. One feature however, sets it apart more than any other; its caves. Archaeologist Cameron Black went to Fascinating Finds from Nottingham’s Caves, the new exhibition at Nottingham University Museum to see what has been unearthed of Nottingham’s ancient history.

We Sat Down With Farm to Fork Fine Dining Restaurant Jericho

From the chaotic scenes portrayed in series like The Bear to the high tensions captured in British dramas like Boiling Point, the intense atmosphere of restaurant kitchens is no secret. These environments are often characterised by extreme stress, with high-end establishments notoriously earning reputations for mistreating staff and inhabiting a sub-culture of abuse and exhaustion - so bad that it’s described by some chefs as akin to ‘going to war’.

A Deep Dive into William ‘Bendigo’ Thompson - Nottingham's 19th Century Bareknuckle Boxer

This month we take you on a trip back to the early 19th century, to paint a picture of a very different Nottingham, where prize-fighter turned evangelist Bendigo rose from the slums to become a national hero in the ring.