It's the most famous bar crawl in Leeds, pulling in sports fans from far and wide to take place in the legendary Headingley pub crawl- but nowit appears The Otley Run is under threat after some neighbours have raised concerns.
With eighteen pubs on the route, it's quite the challenge - and has become something of a famous rite of passage for the city's students, who can often be seen spotted taking part in wild and wacky fancy dress costumes.
And yet, over the past few years concerns from locals have continued to grow about the event - with some venues even going so far as to ban Otley runners from coming in when they're doing the pub crawl.
Last week, it all came to a head with a consultation being held between local politicians and members of the neighbourhood.
Alex Sobel, Labour MP for Leeds North West, met with groups concerned about how the local event is growing 'exponentially' into a 'nationally-recognised event'.
The Weetwood Rose group says it is concerned that the run is becoming "a favourite for stag and hen parties and work outings where people are coached into the area in their hundreds."
On its website, it explains the growth of the run has "caused serious problems for residents and many local businesses."
It continues: "Parents with prams and those with mobility issues struggle to get through the waves of people walking down the street, reports of anti-social behaviour, public urination and sexual harassment have grown and many residents feel unsafe and intimidated to go out, even in the early afternoon.
"This is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue along the current course and we are taking action to see meaningful change.
"To achieve this, we have to explore several different avenues and potential interventions. So far we have met with Safer Leeds, Child Friendly Headingley and Women’s Lives Leeds to encourage a joined up approach to tackling this problem.
"We are meeting with licensing at the council to explore our statutory options. We are also inviting bars to participate in a round table to see what more could be done to support residents and to ensure a ‘code of conduct’ goes up in every pub. And we are meeting with the other local businesses to find out what extra support they need.
"We are supporting the police in their application for more patrols during peak times.
"We are looking at ways to reduce the number of coach trips and writing to businesses asking to end their advertising of the Otley Run."
Options discussed as part of the meeting included introducing a new 'code of conduct' in Otley Run pubs and introducing more police patrols.
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.”
Georgina Pellant -
1st July 2022 
