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Creative and crafty: here's what to look forward to at Young Hustlers 2025

Year on year, Young Hustlers proves itself to be a vital part of our city’s annual arts and culture spectacular Hockley Hustle, providing a host of fun activities to facilitate the creative expression of local kids. It also gets bigger each year, and in 2025 will have an extra-packed, arty and crafty programme, which is this year titled ‘Around the World’. Here’s what you can expect… 

Artist Hetain Patel on his new audio visual show and his early career spent in Notts

Hetain Patel is an English visual artist specialising in performance, sculpture, video and photography. Born and brought up in Bolton, his work is influenced by identity, his family's Indian heritage and mainstream Western pop culture. Hetain came to Nottingham in 2000 as a Fine Art student and spent more than a decade here before spreading his wings; exhibiting in Norway, India, Belgium and more. He’s back with his latest work as part of nottdance Festival 2025…

Gig review: Welly at The Bodega

Last week, Welly returned to The Bodega with more banging tunes, bigger moshpits and a sky full of bubbles. Walking out to the tune of The Macarena, Welly promises a night defined by character and charisma, with songs charged with social commentary to a soundtrack that inspired endless moshpits...

A laughing matter: meeting four performers at the Nottingham Comedy Festival 2025

The Nottingham Comedy Festival returns between Friday 31 October - Sunday 9 November for its 17th year, and will see a diversity of comedians from across the country visit Notts for ten days of unparalleled fun and laughter. Wondering what to expect? Below we meet four performers featured on the festival line-up…

Comedian Rosa Keaton shares highlights from the coming Club Wormhole Festival

Alternate comedy is thriving in Nottingham. And among the comedians leading that boom is Club Wormhole, very much a home for non-conventional humour. And with Wormhole Weekend coming up, now is a great time find out more... 

Pick Six: Steven Sheil at the Mayhem Horror Film Festival

For this month’s Pick Six we turn to Steven Sheil, Co-Director at the Mayhem Horror Film Festival which takes place at Broadway Cinema between Thursday 16 - Sunday 19 October.

In photos: LYVIA at Rescue Rooms

In photos: Belly at Rescue Rooms

Gig review: Club Onion 5 at The OId Cold Store

Club Onion is the brainchild of Twisted Onion promoters Steve Solbé and Steve Hardaker. The events bring a mix of live bands, electronic artists and DJs to locations across the UK with the vibe being very much 1988–1992, bringing to mind the Megadog events from back in the day. The fifth Nottingham edition took place at The Old Cold Store...

Hustle Up: Queer Hustle, bands not to miss and what to expect from Hockley Hustle 2025

It’s hard to find a better way to describe Hockley Hustle than by its own succinct label: Nottingham’s arts and music festival. It’s a day of creativity, showcasing the best of our city and at the same time letting us give back to Nottingham – while having loads of fun. We all know the drill by now, but before you start planning your itinerary, why not check out what’s new this year and some of our recommended highlights…

Robin Hood Beer and Cider Festival Returns to Trent Bridge, for it's fifth year in a row at the venue

The Robin Hood Beer and Cider Festival returns to Trent Bridge Cricket Ground from Wednesday 8 to Saturday 11 October 2025, bringing with it over 600 beers and 100 ciders and perries from some of the UK’s most celebrated breweries; including Nottinghamshire favourites like Castle Rock, Lincoln Green, Blue Monkey, Batemans, Lenton Lane, and Shipstones

Gig review: Crawlers at Rescue Rooms

Never ones to pull punches, alt-rock quartet Crawlers ripped open Nottingham's Rescue Rooms with a cathartic performance, charting love, emotion and free spirit...

Gig review: Midnight Rodeo at The Bodega

We recently described Midnight Rodeo as the kind of gang "you’d trust to soundtrack your life, crash your cousin’s wedding, and still make your nan a lovely cuppa the morning after." That said, the prospect of their hotly-anticipated homecoming gig at The Bodega was too much to resist. We headed down to 23 Pelham Street for another quick chat - and an outstanding performance...

TV legend Steve Backshall on his upcoming Deadly Live show at Motorpoint Arena

If you've ever wondered what kind of person willingly dives headfirst into crocodile-infested waters, wrestles with giant anacondas, or casually points out how a tarantula could melt your face off — meet Steve Backshall. Adventurer, presenter, author, and all-round animal maniac (the loveable kind),

Steve has spent the last couple of decades getting way too cosy with the kind of animals most of us would sprint away from. We caught up with Steve ahead of his Deadly Live! show at Motorpoint Arena, to find out what thrills and spills audiences can expect from the show, how he handles those hairy moments (literally), and deep dive into some of Steve’s favourite animal experiences.

Live Q&A: Saint Etienne in conversation at Rough Trade

Saint Etienne graced Rough Trade for a Q&A about their final album, International - a release which marks the last chapter in the band's career after 35 years in the industry....

Gig review: Black Country, New Road at Rock City

Black Country, New Road's Forever Howlong tour kicked off at Rock City for what was - shockingly - the first headline gig for the band in the city. One of the best exports from The Windmill Brixton scene proved once again why they’re worth the hype...

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...

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...

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…

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...

Theatre review: Momentos de la Vida at Squire Performing Arts Centre

The Robin Hood Improv Festival is in full swing in Notts. Our reviewer Sam Harvey went along to check out Momentos de la Vida, a deceptively simple concept inspired by black-and-white photography...

Gig review: CMAT at Rough Trade

While her star may be shining a little brighter in 2025 thanks to a standout Glastonbury performance and breakout TikTok hit Take A Sexy Picture of Me, Irish singer-songwriter CMAT has long been one of the best artists to come out of the 2020s thus far. Following her highly-acclaimed first two albums and a reputation for captivating live performances, her new album EURO-COUNTRY looks set to turn her from underrated gem into a bonafide global superstar. With her record store tour stopping by Rough Trade a day after the album's release, we knew we had to go along and catch one of her two performances in this intimate setting.…

Gig review: The Hives at Rock City

The Hives are survivors. Having broken through at the vanguard of the garage rock scene of the early 00s, they cemented themselves early as one of the wildest, most exciting propositions in live music. Through classics such as Hate to Say I Told You So, Walk Idiot Walk and Tick Tick Boom, the band have become a beloved fixture in the landscape, carving out their niche and weathering the changing musical tides even as their peers fell away... 

In photos: Happy birthday to The Grove!

In just a year, The Grove has become one of Nottingham's success stories: a truly independent, DIY music space with an open, supportive and inclusive ethos. Run by Dan Cunningham and Cam Worne, this is a place of hard work, joy and community. We were there to capture the vibe of their first birthday bash...

Festival review: Foolhardy Folk Festival 2025