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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…

Gig review: Little Simz at The Level

It’s not every day that genuine rap royalty drops into town. However, with highly anticipated new album Lotus dropping this Friday, the mighty Little Simz rolled into The Level for a Rough Trade outstore show to promote the new project. Armed with a vault of bangers she’s been hoarding, we headed over to The Level for this must-attend show with one of the greatest artists and rappers in the world today…

In photos: MJ Lenderman at Rock City, with Trace Mountains

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…

Gig review: Sunday (1994) at The Bodega

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

Out of Time: A gander down the history of Goose Gate

History writer David Hunter takes a wander through the historic district of Hockley to find out the story behind the curious street name ‘Goose Gate’, and the industries and architecture which defined the area.

Gig review: Supergrass at Rock City

There were no bands quite like Supergrass, in 1995. At least, not our writer's hazy recollection. They stood out; slightly apart from their contemporaries. Off to the side seemingly having just that little bit more fun than anyone else. On the evidence of this riotous, rollocking show at Rock City, the same is just as true in 2025...

Gig review: Bryan Adams at Motorpoint Arena

With new songs under his belt, and a vast back catalogue of hits, Bryan Adams has come a long way since his 90s Wembley Stadium heyday. We headed to Motorpoint Arena to find out if the Canadian rocker is still on form...

Gig review: Hachiku at The Grove, with Lucy Crisp and Emzae

Following its win at the Duckies last week, we headed to The Grove to catch two local artists - and one from very far away…

The founders of outreach website Nott Alone tell us about their mission to demystify mental health support

Back in 2021 educational psychologists Dr Maddi Popoola and Dr Orlaith Green launched NottAlone: a website aggregating mental health resources across the city and county in the most compassionate, clear and accessible way possible. Initially just a resource for young people, the website has since expanded to encompass adults’ mental health needs and linked live events with schools across Nottinghamshire, seeing huge traffic the whole time. With even more on the horizon for NottAlone, we spoke to Maddi and Orlaith about its inception and their outlook on tackling mental health issues.

Gig review: Moonlit at Rough Trade

Recent winners (for good reason!) of the Ultimate Battle of the Bands, Moonlit, headlined Rough Trade Nottingham alongside fellow NTU artists Skunk and Emily Sanders…

Gig review: The Waterboys at Rock City

To celebrate the release of Life, Death and Dennis Hopper - a concept album celebrating the film pioneer the project is named after - The Waterboys have embarked on an impressive 32-date tour across the UK. Naturally, LeftLion couldn’t miss their visit to Nottingham...

Gig review: The Amazons at Rough Trade

The sun is out, the weather is warm, and Nottingham's Rough Trade is buzzing with energy as the dance floor fills with eager gig-goers, all gathering to see The Amazons. Now two days into their in-store Rough Trade tour, the rock band, known for their anthemic sound and blistering live performances, continue to draw crowds with ease... 

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...

Gig review: Richard Dawson at Metronome

For a man with a bizarre and enigmatic back catalogue, Newcastle’s folk troubadour Richard Dawson possesses a rare gift: to create songs that revel in the mundane while also providing an elemental musical base that allows his tales to flourish. At Nottingham's Metronome, Dawson, with his leg encased in a surgical boot, was able to put on a show packed with a gamut of emotions; a night of opinion polls, cheese pasties, ghost stories and a ruptured Achilles tendon made for an evening which will go down as one of the most bizarre in a long time...

Gig review: Kid Spirit at Mist Rolling Inn

Alt-rock four-piece KID SPIRIT are carving their own path in Nottingham, and Mist Rolling Inn provided the perfect venue to showcase their talents...

Gig review: Soda Blonde at The Bodega

Gig review: Personal Trainer at Rescue Rooms

Dutch indie rock band Personal Trainer swung by Rescue Rooms on their UK tour of their 2024 release Still Waiting, much to the excitement of LeftLion. We headed down for a Thursday night boogie…

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…

In photos: Panic Shack at The Bodega, with The Pill

Gig review: Greentea Peng at Rock City

Self-described psychedelic RnB singer-songwriter Greentea Peng returned to Rock City with intention, clarity and energy to burn...

Gig review: Anastacia at the Royal Concert Hall

Emerging in the early 2000s, Chicago pop-rock legend Anastacia is still going strong 25 years later. Overcoming numerous health battles and winning a GQ Humanitarian award for Breast Cancer awareness in the process, Anastacia delivered her eighth studio album titled Our Songs in late 2023. With the beloved singer bringing that latest album and a quarter century of chart hits to Nottingham for the Not That Kind tour, we knew we had to go along and experience that iconic voice in person…