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Brewery round table: Blue Monkey, Bang The Elephant and Liquid Light talk all things ale ahead of Nottingham Craft Beer Festival

Nottingham Craft Beer Festival takes over Sneinton Market Avenues on 20-21 June for three sessions of great beer, live music, street food and more. To celebrate the occasion we put some questions to three of Nottingham’s finest breweries who are all holding stalls at the event. Our interviewees are Ian Wesley of Blue Monkey, Thom Stone of Liquid Light, and Michael Shipman of Bang The Elephant…

The Official LeftLion Guide To 2025 Festival Season

Can you hear that? It’s finally in the air – instruments reverberating across wide open fields, the chimes of communities singing and laughing together, the sound of footsteps as friends stumble back to their tents or homes, ready to do it all over again the next day, or the following weekend. That’s right, the 2025 summer festival season is finally here, and with the return of Splendour Festival right here in Nottingham, it’s shaping up to be a big one!

To give you the lowdown, here’s our ultimate guide to the best local festivals taking place in the city of Nottingham and the surrounding areas over the next few months…

Festival Review: Dot To Dot 2025

The Sunday of the late May Bank Holiday in Nottingham – often the greatest day of the year in our city. Why? Well, because of Dot To Dot of course! Arguably the greatest metropolitan festival in the country, it takes place in multiple venues throughout Bristol on Saturday and right here in Nottingham on Sunday. With the 2025 edition marking the festival’s 20th Anniversary, there was an even greater sense of occasion at this year's event. Heading out to take in the sights and scope out the very best emerging talent from the local scene, the UK and some artists from even further afield, here’s the LeftLion live report from Dot To Dot 2025…

Festival Review: Bearded Theory 2025

Back for its 17th year, this independent gem - which sits by the Trent and straddles the Derbyshire and Staffordshire border - is somewhat of a starter gun for the local festival season. Following last year’s quagmire-like conditions, attendees are thankfully greeted with blue skies and sunshine for the 2025 edition of Bearded Theory. Here’s what went down…

We chat to Davoli about music, life and Dot To Dot

Dot To Dot Festival is almost upon us! One of the hundreds of musicians performing at the day-long musical extravaganza is local artist Davoli. We spoke to him about his brand new EP, his inspirations, and what DTD means to him...

Green Hustle Festival Returns to Nottingham's Old Market Square at the End of May

Music, food, fashion, art and environmental action will once again all come together at the free entry Green Hustle Festival in Nottingham city centre on Saturday 31 May

Exhibition Review: Human Life in Motion at Primary Gallery

With reflections on travel, migration, identity, and what it means to be left behind, artist Maia Ruth Lee’s current exhibition at Primary brings sculptures and banners that are grounded in meaning and memory, whilst also being weightless and liberated.

We review Kinoteka, the Polish Film Festival

Join us for a deep dive into two of the films at this year's Kinoteka Film Festival...

LeftLion Interviews Podcast #10: Comedian Matt Forde on His Early Life In Notts, Kier Starmer, Spitting Image, Forest, Cancer and The End of An Era Tour

Originally from Lenton, Matt Forde is a comedian, TV and radio presenter, writer, impressionist and quite a lot more. He’s perhaps best known for his podcast The Political Party, but he's also a regular face on TV and currently on his End of An Era Tour...

Connecting the Dots: Celebrating 20 years of Dot2Dot Festival

From intimate beginnings to sprawling across iconic venues in Nottingham and Bristol, Dot to Dot has become a cornerstone of the UK’s festival calendar. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2025, the festival has been championing emerging artists since the mid-00s indie boom, many of which have risen to international acclaim. 

With this in mind, we decided to take a look back at the festival’s history, speaking to the team behind the UK’s best metropolitan festival and explore the global superstars that have emerged from Dot To Dot over the last two decades…

Festival Review: Beeston Film Festival

From Cornish mermaids to crazy golf tournaments, runaway factory robots and first date musicals, this film festival had it all.

Five reasons not to miss Bearded Theory this year

A plethora of top quality artists, creative activities and unique educational content… Bearded Theory really does have it all. The festival takes place over the late Bank Holiday weekend in the beautiful setting of Catton Park, under an hour from our Nottingham doorsteps. Here are five reasons you can’t afford to miss the 2025 edition…

The Reel Deal: what’s happening at this year’s Beeston Film Festival

Forget Cannes and Sundance, the Beeston Film Festival returns this month right on your doorstep! Featuring a huge range of work from international and local filmmakers, we spoke to festival director, John Currie, to hear all about the ethos behind this annual event and find out what attendees and filmmakers can expect from this year's festival.

Review: Karma Weekender at Saltbox (Saturday)

The second day of Saltbox's Karma Weekender festival proved to be an exciting, eclectic, and sometimes surreal experience...

Review: Karma Weekender at Saltbox (Friday)

Music festivals don’t have to be stuck in a muddy festival to have connotations of carnage and chaos. This equally applies to all day inner-city ones, as the Karma Weekender at Saltbox proved. Here's what happened on the first day...

Christie Classics, Castle Beer Festival and the Netball Super League: Here's what's on this week in Nottingham 31 March - 6 April 2025

Whether your idea of a good time is brushing up on your Orwell and Christie in the theatre, or enjoying live music and a drink in the sun, there's plenty going on in Nottingham for you this week... 

‘Flour everywhere’ and a ‘life-changing’ écliar? We spoke to the founders of Mapperley's Coosh Bakery, Rachel and Tom Egan.

Based in the heart of Mapperley, Coosh Bakery serves up freshly baked artisan delights to the carb loving masses. From perfectly flaky pastries to show-stopping sourdough loaves, each creation is crafted with love and the finest ingredients. We caught up with the co-founders, couple Rachel and Tom Egan, to find out how the project went from their kitchen to a thriving bricks-and-mortar bakery, now a neighbourhood favourite.

Short Stack From All Angles: We Hear About The Short Film Festival

Last week, we attended Short Stack, the short film festival hosted at Broadway Cinema. For a Sunday evening, the event had a buzzing atmosphere and packed attendance. After it was over, we caught up with the festival’s director, one of the featured filmmakers, and an artist whose music was shown on the big screen…

Life as foster parents in Nottingham

A Nottingham couple who foster children tell us about their experience.

Offline crafting, theatre, day parties, cultural festivals, and 80s new wave: here's what's on events this week 10-16 March 2025

This week in Notts! Get yourself out to enjoy the first inklings of spring, plus a load of great events around the city. Check out a four day festival at New Art Exchange, enjoy gripping theatre at Nottingham Playhouse and Theatre Royal, get crafting in a no-phone-zone, or head down to Vicky McClure's Day Fever at the Palais...

Hips Don’t Lie: we hear from belly dancer Marija Zinkevica about the upcoming Belly Dance Festival and building connection with the body through dance

After a career in computer science, Marija Zinkevica swapped life behind the screen for days onstage: teaching belly dance in Nottingham and performing in competitions around the world. Ahead of the first Belly Dance Festival at the start of March, we caught up with Marija to hear how this ancient dance can build confidence, community and a deep connection with the body.

Musical comedy, Craig David, Festival of Science, and film screenings: Here's what's on this week 10-16 February 2025

This week in Nottingham! Head out with the family to the Festival of Science and Curiosity or the Sooty Show, go retro with Craig David and Lemar, check out some musical comedy or get into some thought-provoking film... 

Splendour 2025 Line-Up Announced: Bloc Party, Jake Bugg, Clean Bandit, Kaiser Chiefs, Travis, Levellers & More

Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, Travis and Jake Bugg will headline Splendour Festival this July along with Clean Bandit, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Natasha Bedingfield, Echo & The Bunnymen, Seasick Steve, The Levellers, The Fratellis and many more...

Ahead of this weekend's Palestine Film Festival we chat to Iro Bagiantera of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign

In advance of Nottingham’s very first Palestine Film Festival, we spoke to the vice-chair of our city’s Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Iro Bagiantera, about what exactly attendees can expect from the event, taking place on Sunday 2 February at Nottingham Contemporary.

Out of time: The previous life of Union Road

Oftentimes the local sites buzzing with history are hidden gems, almost completely changed from their previous appearance. This is certainly the case with Union Road, which CJ De Barra looks back on here...