Bradford's newest outdoor food and drink festival, Taste:BD, promises to be a celebration of local culture in the heart of the city.
Taking place on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 April 2023, the festival will celebrate the very best of Bradford's food, drink and entertainment scenes.
Taste:BD will be held across two central locations in Bradford city centre, Centenary Square and City Park.
City Park’s mirror pool will play host to the heart of the festival's site, featuring a range of delicious food stalls, craft markets, family-friendly live entertainment, a cooking masterclass tent and a kid-friendly area jam-packed full of activities.
Image: Supplied
The site will be transformed into a beautiful, vibrant and welcoming space for everyone to enjoy, with newly rejuvenated carnival floats from Bradford’s proud festival heritage serving as giant centrepieces to the festival.
Meanwhile, Centenary Square will play host to some of the best bars and breweries in the area, with live DJ sets running later into the evening providing the best tunes to get you dancing to.
With over 40 food and drink partners taking part, guests can expect a vibrant selection of street food, drinks and arts to enjoy over the weekend.
Nicola Greenan, Strategic lead for City of Culture, Policy and Events from Bradford Council said: “We’re really excited to be hosting Taste:BD for the first time and welcoming people from near and far into Bradford to experience this cultural celebration.
"With most of the food and drink vendors being from either Bradford or the surrounding areas, this makes us even more looking forward to showcasing the culinary delights Yorkshire has to offer. With the Super Soapbox Challenge also happening in the city centre on Sunday 30th April, the weekend promises to be one not to be missed.”
The City Park side of the festival will be running from 12pm- 6pm on Saturday 29, and from 11am - 6pm on Sunday 30, with the Centenary Square side of the festival open till 10pm both days to ensure everyone can secure their bank holiday tipple.
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.
Mumford & Sons add new Leeds show at the First Direct Arena to sell out UK tour
Clementine Hall
Two new arena dates have been added to their forthcoming UK tour, after selling out the entire run within two hours.
Ahead of dropping their fifth studio LP Rushmere at the end of the month, the cult favourite folk-rock outfit announced a brand-new European tour in support of the record, including a limited UK leg.
The now sold-out arena run starts in Europe in November before now arriving in Leeds on Sunday 30 November.
The significance of the band’s return can be found in the title of the new album, as Rushmereis the spot where it all began for the boys: a pond located on Wimbledon Common in south-west London where Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett and Ted Dwane first hung out.
However, the multi-award-winning acoustic-driven British rockers and folk revivalists are now a trio following the departure of Winston Marshall, who quit the band back in 2021 following controversies surrounding his right-wing beliefs.
Image: Supplied
With that in mind, it’s rather fitting that they have insisted that beyond just a place and a title, Rushmere is alsothebeginning of a new phase.
Following an intense period of creativity, the project was produced by fellow nine-time Grammy winner Dave Cobb and recorded at the famous RCA Studio A in Nashville, as well as in Savannah, Georgia and back home at Marcus’ studio in Devon.
The album itself drops on this Friday 28 March and judging by the little that we’ve heard so far, they’ve been well worth the wait.
As for the arena show, tickets will go on sale this Thursday 27 March at 10am.
Best of all, they’re donating £1 from every ticket sold straight to War Child UK – this sort of stuff should be standard for any big act as far as we’re concerned.
Clementine Hall -
21st April 2023 
