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14 great music festivals in and around Nottingham for 2026

You can feel it starting... The evenings are lighter and the first warm weekends spark everybody into optimism, and suddenly someone shares a line-up in a group chat and writes, ‘We have to go!’

Across Nottinghamshire and the wider east midlands, 2026 is shaping up to be another packed one. Big-name headliners, grassroots weekends, city takeovers and quieter escapes all sit side-by-side. If you want to start planning your festival season soon, here are some suggestions. 

Gig review: Badly Drawn Boy in conversation and song at Metronome

Record Store Day 2026 in Nottingham

Music aficionados united in Nottingham for Record Store Day 2026, a celebration of everything vinyl. We visited three of the city’s top record shops to soak up the vibe of a day dedicated to physical music and the enduring strength of independent retail...

Classical Music Review: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra with Domingo Hindoyan at the Royal Concert Hall

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra is yet another orchestra proving you do not need to go down south to see world-class concert music. And now they're back with a new conductor. Can they still cut the musical mustard... 

Life Behind Bars with Vicky Pamo Simples, Bar Supervisor at The Beeston Social

Vicky Pamo Simples tells us what it’s like to be a supervisor at multi-purpose food and drink hub, the buzzing Beeston Social… 

Interview: BalletBoyz directors Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt at Nottingham Playhouse

After 25 years of pushing boundaries, BalletBoyz return to Nottingham with a radical new show celebrating their silver anniversary. Artistic Directors Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt talk to Leftlion about the story so far...  

Competition: Win Nottingham Wing Fest 2026 Tickets

The world’s biggest chicken wing festival lands in Nottingham for the first time ever at the new Out Nottingham venue. We have two pairs of tickets to give away to our clucky readers...

Plans for new statue of Maid Marian in Nottingham City Centre unveiled

Nottingham City Council, Backlit Gallery and It’s in Nottingham, have announced plans for a new statue of Maid Marian to be unveiled this summer and located on Maid Marian Way...

Screen Review: asses.masses

A single spotlight. A black podium. A PlayStation controller. 70 strangers, filing into a cinema
room at once. On the wall, a banner: ASS POWER. We hear from Abbie Leeson, who recently went to the live playthrough of asses.masses at Broadway Cinema.

Theatre Review: Cinderella Ice Cream Seller at Lakeside Arts

Lakeside Arts offers a retelling of a fairy tale classic with a blend of storytelling, live music, and theatrical magic. Cinderella's is now an ice cream factory, and therein lies the tale...

The Letters Page: The Art of Letters and the Intimate Stories of Identity and Connection Found Within Them

It’s no secret that letter writing has now become a thing of the past, long since replaced by our ability to instantly communicate with each other via text message or phone call. But there is still a certain charm to letter writing, that literary lovers amongst us will never quite get past, and for good reason. Grace Sanders sat down with Zoe, Soha, Arwyn and Elodie, interns working at The Letters Page, to find out more about the latest issue, the work they do and how the purpose of letter writing has evolved from an essential form of communication to an intimate art form.

Alex Hale and the Private Sector talk new name and new music

Alex Hale is a well-known name for anybody versed in the Nottingham music scene. In the newly-named Alex Hale and the Private Sector, joined by bandmates Daniel Barradell, Dominic Brady, Luke Gilborn, Stephen Marsh and sometimes (when he's not busy running The Grove) Cam Worne, he is embarking on a new era…

Beltane, beer, Badly Drawn Boy and Shrek: Here's what's on this week 20 - 26 April 2026

This week in Notts! Enjoy craft beer, Beltane celebrations, Beeston Film Festival and lots more. Here's our top picks...

Concert Review: Orquesta Sinfónica De Galicia at Royal Concert Hall

The Galicia Symphony Orchestra is reputed to be one of Spain's most prominent orchestras with fans across the world. But how did they go down with the Nottingham audience... 

Put your records on: eleven Notts vinyl stores worth visiting on Record Store Day

On 18 April it’s Record Store Day – a celebration of that unique grassroots culture which, even in the face of constant adversity wracking the UK music scene, endures and provides a community for innumerable lovers of physical media. Since the fifties, Nottingham’s been a hub for well-visited record stores, some becoming legendary like Selectadisc – which once hosted The Clash in store – and Way Ahead – who as well as selling vinyl also sold tickets for one of Oasis’ biggest tours. Music has changed a lot over the last few years, but here’s eleven record shops still worth checking out

LeftLion Interviews Podcast #16: Notts County’s James Belshaw on his career, coming home and how he nearly signed for Notts several times before

This episode we are joined by Notts County FC goalkeeper James Belshaw who talks about his career, coming home to play for Notts County FC and how he nearly signed for Notts several times before...

Left Stag: April - Everyone's Stags

As the season trundles towards its conclusion, with Mansfield Town all but mathematically safe and out of all cups, my non-football-fan wife tells me that she misses the tension that she’s become accustomed to in the other seasons since we met!I say non-football-fan,but I don’t think I can really say that anymore…

Pick six: playwright Jane Upton

For this month’s Pick Six we turned to local playwright, Jane Upton, who’s new show Scenes from a Friendship comes to Nottingham Playhouse from Friday 15 May.

In conversation with Bob Mould about Sugar, politics and the power of finding your voice

Thirty years on from their untimely split, American indie punk pioneers Sugar reunite to play an extensive UK tour with a date at Rock City on 31st May. 2026 is shaping up to be a landmark year for the power punk trio with the super deluxe reissue of their 1992 debut album Copper Blue and the release of two new songs: House of Dead Memories and Long Live Love. We chatted with Iconic frontman Bob Mould about all things Sugar, Hüsker Dü, and the current state of political affairs in the US...

A walk in the park: how the King George V Memorial Fund helped preserve our green spaces

We’re lucky to have lots of local parks in Nottingham – but they don’t just establish or maintain themselves. As the lungs, playgrounds, and life-givers of our city, they’ve seen a whole range of uses over time, from wartime food growing through to cricket grounds, football pitches, and skate parks. Celebrating the enduring legacy of King George V’s memorial fund, genealogist and local historian Russell Davies of Leaves of History digs deep into the origins of the parks it bestowed, and their shifting purposes and stewardship.

Night Creatures Podcast #7: Parisa East from Acoustickle on finding a young Jake Bugg, musical collaborations and juggling life as a promoter

Night Creatures is a LeftLion podcast, shining a light on the promoters of Nottingham. Your  host and interviewer is Beane, co-founder of Nottingham’s beloved Soul Buggin’ night and  he brings with him two decades of experience of putting on great parties in the city. 

Mapperley’s silent discos speaks volumes

Tucked away at the south end of Mapperley Top, framed by lush garden borders and the open stretch of Haywood Road Green, sits the Haywood Road Community Centre. While the centre is a bustling hub for meetups and activities throughout the week, the green space truly comes alive once a year for a local phenomenon: the annual Silent Disco. 

Enthralling theatre and crowd pleasing comedy: Here's what's on in Nottingham this week Monday 13 - Sunday 19 April

The weather's getting warmer, and here in Notts everybody's getting out and enjoying culture, whether as part of some memorable screenings at local cinemas, or some top tier local music. Here's some events which we think you shouldn't miss...

New Nottingham Journal Reopens for Submissions

After selling out its debut issue, the New Nottingham Journal – the city’s print literary journal publishing short fiction, slow journalism, poetry and black-and-white art – is preparing its return in 2026.

LeftLion's Latest Listens #43: Notts music we're currently spinning

In this edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens, our music team reviews new releases from Book of Churches, Dusty 4 Track, Firmament and JJ Lovegrove...