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Exhibition Review: Your Ears Later Will Know to Listen at Nottingham Contemporary

Combining many different artistic mediums, from sculpture to sonic installation, the Nottingham Contemporary’s latest group exhibition: Your Ears Later Will Know to Listen, explores sound and music and their relationship to themes like colonisation and dispossession.

LeftLion's Latest Listens #27: Notts music we're currently spinning

In this edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens for 2025, our music team reviews new releases from Davoli & Jess Beer, Vona Vella, LYVIA, Dirt Bloom and Hallowed Men...

Film Review: Jurassic World Rebirth

“It’s a bird, it’s a plane…no, it’s another Jurassic World movie.” Join us as we review Jurassic World: Rebirth to see if it was worth making… 

Festival review: Saturday at Splendour 2025 in Wollaton Park

After a year away, the biggest weekend in the Nottingham musical calendar returned – Splendour Festival. With a stellar line-up of indie legends, pop icons, local heroes and the very best emerging talent from the Midlands and beyond, we headed down to Wollaton Hall to catch all the Saturday action…

Gig Review: Whycliffe The Rebirth at The Old Bus Depot

A quarter of a century since his last ticketed performance, Nottingham music legend Whycliffe took to the stage for a triumphant return at the Old Bus Depot...

Nottingham Arena Want Your Photos As Part of Their 25th Birthday Celebrations

As Nottingham’s biggest indoor music and entertainment venue continues to celebrate 25 years of unforgettable shows and memories, they are inviting you to be part of a special celebration…

What's in a name: the intriguing tales behind ten Nottingham place names

We walk along the streets of Nottingham every day without paying much attention to their names. They may be just words to us now, but street names were often originally descriptions, giving us information about important goings on in that area. Here are the meanings and history behind some of Nottingham’s streets that you may not have thought about before.

Theatre Review: The Prince at the Lace Market Theatre

The Prince, by Abigail Thorn, debuted to rave reviews at Southwark Theatre. Now it's come to Nottingham with a uniquely gay reimagining of the Bard...

Not(t) Art: the arts and crafts pub night bringing people together

Aiming to take the ‘art out of the gallery and into the community’, the Not(t) Art Collective is a new project that hopes to provoke interest from people who wouldn’t necessarily ‘do’ art. Taking place at The Barley Twist pub on Carrington Street, the collective looks to engage people in a range of social creative activities; from portrait drawing socials, to bring your own arts-and-crafts evenings, to the bare essentials - life drawing! We spoke to Matt Smith, founder of the Collective about his motivations for starting the group.

A Life Composed in Stories: Author Frances Thimann on how classical music shaped her latest collection

Notts writer Frances Thimann’s latest short story collection, Sweet Thames, Run Softly, Till I End My Song, dives deep into the emotional pull of classical music. We caught up with her to discuss rivers, Bach and memory...

Book clubs, sing-a-longs and pride parties: Here's what's on in Nottingham this week, 21-27 July

From pagan literature book clubs, to legendary ice rink openings for family summer fun- whether you're an art enthusiast, music lover, or just looking for a new club to join, there'll probably be something happening in Notts this week which you'll enjoy. Here are our picks for this week...

LeftLion's Latest Listens #26: Notts music we're currently spinning

In this week's edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens for 2025, we take a deep dive into the new album from Midnight Rodeo...

Perfect Ten: a retrospective on Nottingham City of Literature's decade in business

Readers, prepare your confetti. 2025 marks our first decade as a UNESCO City of Literature - with many more, we hope, to come. Since 2015, Nottingham City of Literature has been honouring their commitment to building better futures with words, especially for our young people. This has included working with local educational institutions to enhance literacy, facilitating career events for blossoming creatives, and fostering global connections with Nottingham’s UNESCO sister cities. We took a look at what they’ve achieved so far….

Gig review: enchanting 90s goth with Miranda Sex Garden, Hurtsfall and Modern Coven at Rough Trade

Local gig putter-onners I’m Not From London treated Rough Trade to a night of bewitching harmonies and gothic glamour, presenting the reformation of ethereal 90s dark wave band Miranda Sex Garden, with support from Notts own Hurtsfall and Modern Coven.

Festival review: Nottingham Chamber Music Festival – Tunnel Vision

The Nottingham Chamber Music Festival is an annual series of concerts put together by a team of dedicated volunteers, bringing classical music artists to some of our city’s most beautiful and historical spaces. For the closing concert of the 2025 edition, the festival worked with the Nottingham Park Residents Association to host string quartet, The Le Page Ensemble, in the stunning surroundings of the Park Tunnel. A special one-of-a-kind concert not to be missed, we went along to experience this cave-dwelling performance first-hand…

Review: Miss Americana – A Tribute to Taylor Swift at the Nottingham Playhouse

A dazzling, high-energy tribute that captured the spirit, sparkle and soul of Taylor Swift. Xenna is a powerhouse performer who gave fans exactly what they came for, and more...

We Chat To Wellington Films About Their 25th Anniversary

For 25 years, Wellington Films has been producing films in Nottingham’s Broadway Cinema. I caught up with Al Clark to hear what producing ten feature films and over forty short films has been like...

Musicals, festivals, and local legends: Here's what's on in Nottingham this week, 14 -21 July

From a musical about the life of a music legend, to the long-awaited return of a local one, if you're stuck for things to fill the coming week in Nottingham then you're certainly in the right place. Here are our picks...

Theatre Interview : Laurie Owen, director of The Prince at the Lace Market Theatre

The Prince by Abigail Thorn is about to launch at the Lace Market Theatre. This ambitious show stars three trans women and merges Shakespeare with the modern world. LeftLion interviews the director, Laurie Owen, on the hows and whys...  

Gig review: The Moonlandingz at Rescue Rooms

Described by one of our team as "one of the most bonkers (but enjoyable) gigs I've been to in a long while", The Moonlandingz made a big mark on Nottingham as they arrived at Rescue Rooms for a rescheduled show. Supported by Jeanie & The White Boys (whose lead singer also sang with the headliners), the band delivered a fun, energetic and unapologetically politically incorrect show...

Gig review: Future Sound of Nottingham Final at Rock City

The Future Sound of Nottingham is one of our city's most exciting music competitions. In the culmination of this year's event, eight acts from across the area competed at Rock City in a high energy final. Read on to find out which musicians were awarded the opportunity to perform at Splendour Festival...

Theatre Interview: Ifeanyi Felukwu

A local production of 1984 is about to debut at the Nottingham Playhouse. Does a play from the 1940s still hold relevance for today's young people. Ifeanyi Felukwu, who plays Winston Smith, shares his views... 

Pride and prejudice: how Nottingham's disabled community got their voices heard

While some might see protest as disruption to everyday life, for others taking to the streets is one of the most conspicuous methods of getting voices heard. Civil rights, such as simple access to transport, are easily taken for granted by many, but the most marginalised groups in society have had to fight for their civil rights through civil disobedience. For Disability Pride month, CJ De Barra recounts how the Disabled community used high-profile demonstrations in Nottingham to ensure their rights were fairly given.

Nottingham's new print journal launches crowdfunding campaign

Founded by LeftLion literature editor Andrew Tucker Leavis, the New Nottingham Journal is an upcoming print journal, set to showcase the work of writers from both Nottingham and further afield. With a crowdfunding campaign now launched, Andrew tells us more about this exciting new project. 

In photos: Unleash The Archers at Rescue Rooms, with All For Metal