Brighter Days Festival is a new Leeds-based day festival that aims to bring the best of Ibiza to Temple Newsam this summer.
This electric gathering is set to feature two stages and headline sets from Faithless (DJ), Kings of Tomorrow feat Julie McKnight, Roger Sanchez, Fat Tony, Lovely Laura & Ben Santiago, Angel Lee, Dave Robinson, Kirsten and plenty more.
The event is a duel-location festival, with one day fest at Temple Newsam in Leeds on Friday 12 August 2022, whilst another will take place in Herrington in the North East on Friday 8 July 2022.
The festival is in its second year, but this is the first time that the festival will take place in Yorkshire.
"Brighter Days Festival enters into its second year after been put together at the end of the first lockdown, the seeds were already there and action was taken. It wasn’t with a challenge as Boris delayed the reopening of our industry, meaning Brighter Days was postponed and pushed back to August and moved venues.
"Determined not to be beaten we threw an amazing party at Rainton Meadows in a huge big top which saw thousands of ravers flock for a Sunday afternoon of killer vibes from the master Patrick Topping! The day went off and here we find ourselves going into year two with quadruple the amount of artists and stages, sit tight…"
Image: Brighter Days
The team behind Brighter Days have been in the game far longer than lockdown though. The team have over 15 years experience promoting cutting-edge house parties in the North East, starting at The Arena club in 2007. Putting themselves on the map by bringing names like Avicii, Jamie Jones, Seth Troxler, Eats Everything and The Martinez Brothers, the club closed in 2013 but the pair went on to develop some huge outdoor shows, most notably the Redcar Beach site at Majuba.
Leeds's Temple Newsam Park is the team's latest project and they promise to bring "what will be a little slice of White Isle party heaven this summer. The production, the sound and the vibes will all be served up with plenty of famous Balearic spirit and wild hedonism".
Image: Brighter Days
The escapist location of Temple Newsam, is well acquainted with festivals and its rolling green park surrounded by woodland that hosts some of the North's most essential festivals makes it the perfect location for Brighter Days to debut.
With capacity set at 5,000 people with one huge main stage and a VIP Area as well as food stalls, fairground and licensed bars to keep dancers fuelled. Expect next level production that will fire the synapses while the world class DJs serve up the scintillating sounds at what might just be one of Leeds' most exclusive festivals on the year.
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 -
29th March 2022 
