Join all your favourite small businesses in Leeds over Halloween weekend for an afternoon of tasty treats and early Christmas shopping.
In Leeds, we're pretty passionate about supporting small businesses.
After all, we do have a spectacular selection of bakeries, bars, gift shops, designers, creatives and more on offer in the city.
Whether it's championing the Yorkshire's finest brownies from The Savvy Baker or tucking into some delicious Chinese from Mans Markets, supporting your local is not only a great way to sample fresh dishes or get to know the latest trends, it's also good for the local economy.
According to a recent report, 63% of independent business’ profit goes back into the local economy.
The Savvy Baker will be hosting the small business event at their HQ but the amazing brownies are regularly available at pop-up locations across the city centre. / Image: The Savvy Baker
High Street stores give just 40% back, so why not head down to the Halloween Small Business Event in the city next weekend and find the city's latest hidden treasure.
On Saturday 30 October, the small business event will be hosting a wide range of Leeds-based companies, some of which only usually sell online.
Since there's nothing like seeing your online wish list basket in real life, this event is the perfect opportunity to treat yourself and get some early Christmas shopping out of the way without worrying about delivery delays.
Hosted by The Savvy Baker, there will be plenty of independent stores to choose from along with Arches Sweets, Burtz Drinks, The Cheesy Living Co. and you'll even be able to grab your caffeine fix from Kopi Coffee too.
Get in the spooky spirit with Halloween Face Painting and prizes for the best dressed dog in attendance.
There will be plenty of treats on hand for your furry friends too, with Pick N Tricks supplying dog-friendly biscuits that look so delicious, you'd easily mistake them for human treats.
There will also be the chance to check out Poppy's Potting Shed, The Resin Room and Thiccc Sauce on the day too.
Get down, support your locals and bring a genuine smile to a real company that cherish every order they receive.
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
Leeds Tattoo Expo to return to the First Direct Arena for 10th anniversary
Clementine Hall
The tenth annual Leeds Tattoo Expo will showcase some of the best in tattooing both local and internationally.
If you fancy getting yourself a fancy new bit of ink, then look no further than the iconic Leeds Tattoo Expo that will be returning to the First Direct Arena this June.
Taking place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June 2025, over 200 tattooists and 70 traders will be flocking to the city to show off their skills.
And not only that, but there’ll also be a whole host of market traders for you to browse as well as live music to have a boogie to.
The artists will be tattooing with options for both pre-booked appointments and walk ups available throughout the weekend.
Image: Leeds Tattoo Expo
There will also be a piercer, tooth gems and a henna artist ready to adorn your body.
Alongside getting tattooed, there’s plenty to do and to see over the whole weekend; there'll be an alternative drawing class, an illustrators market with kids’ workshops provided by Art Gecko, an art fusion event on the main stage, burlesque performances and competitions, a small vintage clothing pop-up, fire breathing and break dancing demonstrations in the square outside the arena.
The annual tattoo competitions will also be taking place each evening, where tattooists showcase their work to a panel of judges, sponsored by Killer Ink!
To celebrate Leeds Tattoo Expo's tenth anniversary, they'll be hosting a Pre-Party at Belgrave Music Hall on Thursday 5 June which is a completely free entry event complete with live music and free pizza.
You can find out more about the event and book your tickets here via the First Direct Arena's website.
Sophie Smith -
20th October 2021 
