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Get Your Gladrags On: We Chat to Baby Tap, DJ Boz, Marilyn Sane, and Nana Arthole

Nottingham has a colourful palette of local, committed and diverse LGBTQ+ artists and creatives. Baby Tap, DJ Boz, Marilyn Sane, and Nana Arthole are all part of the Nottingham club night Gladrags, a welcoming space that hosts DJs, live music, drag and burlesque performers, where all people can get their Gladrags on and be authentic without judgement. They told us more about who they are, the events that are happening across the city, and the new wave of LGBTQ+ identifying musicians who are emerging from Nottingham…

NET Shows How It's Helping Young People Get Around Notts

Film Review: Your Fat Friend

We take a look at Jeanie Finlay's acclaimed new documentary... 

We Learn More About Nottingham Hackspace - The Place to Go if You Want to Make Weird and Wonderful Things

Tucked away behind Sneinton Market in a Victorian factory building, Nottingham Hackspace is a place for makers, inventors, tinkerers, crafters, board game enthusiasts, robot designers and, well, anyone who fancies trying their hand at making weird and wonderful things. Set over two floors, the building is home to all manner of machinery and supplies that anyone can access for a monthly membership fee. We went along to speak to members Aaron, Steve and Douglas to chat about the organisation’s history and how people can get involved…

Local Cultural Organisations Issue Open Letter Voicing Concern About Nottingham City Council’s Budget Cuts

With the recent announcement of budget cuts to the cultural and social sectors in Nottingham, over 120 individuals representing at least 75 local organisations have signed an open letter voicing concern about Nottingham City Council’s Section 114 process, and the impact it will have on the Nottingham communities.

We Chat to A9 Films’ Screenwriter and Director Alfie Rowley-Stone All About New Film ‘I Don’t Want to Share Your Love'

I Don't Want To Share Your Love is the newest release from Nottingham-based A9 Films - Sofia Jones speaks to its screenwriter and director, Alfie Rowley-Stone, all about it…

We Found Out About Fast Forward Music, DJ Workshops for Young People From Synthetic Pro Audio

Fast Forward Music, an accredited Alternative Provision by Nottingham City & County Council, is set to revolutionise the educational landscape for key stage three/four youth with a series of innovative music workshops. Focused on music technology and DJ/turntablism, these workshops aim to inspire creativity, skill development, and a genuine passion for the creative music industry...

Young Creative Award Entries Are Now Open for 2024

The Young Creative Awards, an annual competition for young creatives living, working or studying in and around Nottingham, has returned for its sixteenth year, with entries now open...

The Nottingham Culture Review of 2023

Welcome to 2023, a year where we saw the cost of living crisis continue to ravage lots of local things we know and love. However, it was also a year of local success in various sports and one with various familiar faces being part of big things on screen…

Nottingham’s Leading Youth Mental Health Charity the Wolfpack Project Give Advice on How to Tackle Loneliness This Festive Season

One in four seventeen–25-year-olds will experience a mental health problem each year, so it’s no doubt that the demand for support is only growing. As a leading charity that works with sixteen–35-year-olds living within Nottinghamshire, The Wolfpack Project provides an option for many. We speak to their Support Manager Rachel, who has been with them since June 2022, to find out more about the charity's work…

We Round up the Best Experiences to Gift Your Loved Ones So You Can Have a Minimal but Memorable Christmas

Christmas is touted as the most wonderful time of the year - full of sweet treats, endless gifts and dazzling decorations - and in the deep of December, we really do need a few lovely things to cheer us up. But pull back the curtain and it is also statistically the most wasteful time of year, too... 

We Chat to Author Nicola Monaghan to Discuss Her New Book 'Wish You Were Here'

We caught up with Nicola Monaghan, author of The Killing Jar, Starfishing and The Okinawa Dragon, to discuss becoming a writer, crafting detective novels and her new book Wish You Were Here…

Gig Review: Death Cult at Rock City

Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy returned to a jam-packed Rock City to celebrate forty years of The Cult's predecessor, Death Cult, reliving deep cuts that spawned one of the most successful bands to come from the UK's illustrious eighties gothic and Hard Rock scene…

Bears! Nature, Culture and Beyond: The Lakeside Arts Exhibition That Gives an Insight Into the History of Bears

Local archaeologist Ben Normington interviewed the co-curators of the current exhibition in the archaeology museum at Lakeside Arts - Prof. Hannah O’Regan and Dr. Liam Lewis, both from the Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Nottingham. The exhibition is called Bears! Nature, Culture and Beyond and gives an insight into the cultural history of bears… 

Mimm’s Nathaniel Coltrane Tells Us All About Their Latest Project ‘Our Yard’, a Detailed Look Into Soundsystem Culture

For the past thirteen years Nathaniel Coltrane has run Mimm (Music is my Motive) from the heart of Nottingham. Starting as a clothing shop, it has evolved into a community hub for the vast amount of creatives residing in the city. We spoke to Nate about his new project Our Yard: a detailed look into the history of sound system culture.

We Speak to Poet Ravelle-Sadé Fairman About Performing on Stage and Inspiring Young Writers

Getting in front of an audience and revealing your innermost thoughts sounds pretty daunting, but the rewards of speaking your truth are many. We spoke to Ravelle-Sadé Fairman about performing on stage, inspiring young writers and the purpose of poetry.

Yello Yard Share Their Coco Jerk Chicken Deli Recipe for You to Make at Home

This month we met up with Yello Yard to celebrate some delicious cuisine from the Caribbean. You’re going to want to keep reading because we’ve included a tasty recipe for you to make at home, too!

Nottingham Family Festival Young Hustlers Aims to Ignite The Flames of Creativity

20 Great LeftLion Interviews You Should Re-Read

Over the last two decades we’ve interviewed a lot of people within our pages. It’s not easy to pick out favourites, but we love you so much we’ve given it a go. Here are twenty of our best interviews, listed in chronological order, that we think you should take a second look at…

University Dos and Don’ts: Here’s How to Get the Best Out of Your Student Experience When Meeting New People

One of the best parts about transitioning to university and moving to a brand new city is the opportunity to widen your friendship circle and meet people from all across the country - and even the globe. For lots of people, it can be daunting coming into a brand new environment with expectations created by the likes of social media, trashy teen movies, and older siblings.

But the uncertainty of who you will meet and spend at least the next three years with should be an exciting prospect. During Freshers’ Week, you will end up repeatedly telling people what you’re studying and the name of your childhood pet - and as frustrating as this may get, it will all be worth it, because eventually you will meet the people who you will share this entire experience with.

When settling into a new environment, university included, you have a very simple responsibility to respect everyone that you encounter, even if there is a difference of opinion - whether this is political or religious beliefs, interests and hobbies, attitudes towards drinking alcohol, or different cultural backgrounds. So, we have curated some dos and don’ts that you should keep in mind when you arrive in your new home and meet your new flatmates and friends…

10 Ways to Look After Your Mental Health at University

Starting university can always prove challenging - whether you’re full of confidence or nervous about change. But you should always take comfort in the fact that there is support out there, whether it’s in the form of a friendly word of advice or more structured, tailored counselling programmes. Here are ten tips from NTU Student Mental Health Champion Kerry Luff for how to look after your mental health over the next few years while studying at university…

Organisations You Can Get Involved With to Make Nottingham Greener and Cleaner

Thanks to its love of solar panels and electric transport, Nottingham has become the UK’s most energy-self-sufficient city. That’s a title we are dead proud of, and we are always trying to improve and expand on what we’re doing – so much so that Nottingham City Council has launched a campaign to make the city carbon neutral by 2028, the most ambitious reduction target of any UK core city. But how can you help green up the place during your stay?

20 Bands You Won't Believe Have Played Rescue Rooms

It may be tucked away out of sight in the shadow of Rock City, but few would disagree that Rescue Rooms is one of the best spots for catching live music in Nottingham. To celebrate its twentieth birthday, we look back at some of the most unbelievable bands and artists who have graced the stage over the past two decades…

Gig Review: Be Your Own Pet at The Bodega

After fifteen years out of the game, Nashville’s indie-punk sensations Be Your Own Pet are back and boy, are they back. The band stopped by Nottingham’s Bodega to gift their fans with an album that I’m sure many of us thought was never going to come. After all, it’s rare to see a band bounce back after such a long hiatus. But were these long-awaited offerings able to enchant audiences in the same way that their signature ferociously quirky style had done in the late noughties? The city’s punk fans were eager to find out.

Cultural Festivals, Music Gigs and Going Back to Nature, Here’s What’s on in Nottingham This Week: 4 - 10 September

This week you could be at a psychedelic party, having spicy South-Asian food or planting a sapling. Here is a list of our hot picks for the week…