After two long years of celebrating St Patrick's Day behind closed doors, the parade will commence once more in Leeds city cente.
St Patrick’s Day isn’t until the 18th, but the annual parade is due to take place on Sunday 13 March this year from 10am until 4pm.
The previous two St Patrick's Day celebrations in Leeds were cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, making this the first parade since 2019 to take place in Leeds.
The parade will bring together floats, bands, walking displays, and representatives from Irish organisations, schools, clubs and societies from across Leeds- making it one of those rare family days out that everyone of all ages can find something that they enjoy.
St Patrick's Day Parade in 2019. / Image: Leeds Going Irish
Whether its Tommy K the DJ spinning the decks, watching the Leeds Irish Choir, Leeds CCE, or wondering at the dances from Rowland Academy of Irish Dancing, Joyce O Donnell Irish Dancing and Leeds University Union Irish Dancing Society- there's more than just the parade to enjoy this year.
The walking route will start as normal from Millennium Square at 11am, but the difference this year is that the floats will be situated on the lower part Great George Street. This is noted to be mainly due to the ongoing works on Cookridge Street so plans have been changed slightly.
Image: Leeds St Patrick's Parade
Once all the walkers and pipe bands have entered onto Great George Street and follow the route noted on the map above. The floats will then follow after everyone has past.
Everyone in Leeds is welcome to join in with the parade and head through Leeds city centre before reaching the party on Millennium Square. Once the parade has finished, there will be a full afternoon of music and dance from Leeds musicians, dancers and invited guests.
St Patrick's Day Parade in 2019. / Image: Leeds Going Irish
"Just to confirm The Leeds St Patricks Day Parade has been agreed with Leeds City Council and will be going ahead on Sunday 13th March 2022 at Millennium Square.
"This is going to be the biggest gathering since the end of lockdown in Leeds, let's send the message out".
The Wombats aren’t just still going strong - they’re getting better. And honestly? Long may they reign.
The Wombats absolutely tore the roof off the First Direct Arena in Leeds last night, Wednesday 26 March and what a night it was.
From the second they hit the stage it wasn’t just a gig, it was a full-blown indie-pop spectacle, packed with infectious energy, nostalgia, and a whole lot of dancing.
They kicked things off with “Moving to New York,” and honestly? The crowd was in from the first note.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Matthew Murphy’s unmistakable vocals rang through the arena and suddenly, thousands of people were screaming every lyric like it was 2007 all over again. It was one of those moments where you could just feel how much this band still means to people.
Despite the massive venue, The Wombats somehow made it feel intimate. The lights? Pure chaos in the best way - vibrant, colourful, and totally in sync with the band’s wild, bouncy sound.
Murphy’s cheeky banter between songs made it feel less like a polished arena show and more like a jam session with a few thousand of your closest mates.
Setlist-wise, they nailed it. “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” and “Greek Tragedy” had the whole place losing it, while the stripped-down version of “Techno Fan” gave everyone a minute to breathe (and maybe get a little emotional).
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Those quieter moments just made the high-energy choruses hit even harder. It was a rollercoaster - in the best way possible.
Then came the encore. If you thought the crowd was loud before, “Kill the Director” took things to another level. Pure, chaotic indie bliss. The kind of moment you don’t want to end.
Here’s the thing about The Wombats: some might say their older songs hit harder than their newer stuff, but is that just nostalgia talking? Or maybe it’s a generational thing?
Either way, they proved they’re still one of the most exciting live bands out there. They’ve still got the hooks, the humour, and the ability to turn a massive arena into a sweaty, euphoric singalong.
Get Baked’s viral ‘Bertha’ cake has a sister on the way – and she sounds just as cheeky
Danny Jones
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.”
Sophie Smith -
2nd March 2022 
