Gutted about the lack of Christmas Markets this year in Leeds? Us too. Luckily, Chow Down have got an even better proposal...
Locally renowned open air bar and eatery, Chow Down, will be turning their Temple Arches open air space into a Winter Village from 11 November until New Years Eve.
The outdoor venue has continued to surprise and delight Leeds throughout the year, hosting the best street vendors, drinks and DJs the city has to offer and this festive experience will be no different.
Chow Down is Temple Arches ultimate open air eating, dining and dancing experience and the Winter Village is expected to be their largest event to date. / Image: Chow Down
Expect the unveiling of a brand new, two-storey bar, rooftop curling club and cosy Christmas tipis to curl up in.
To keep warm, grab a seat by the fire pit, heaters and take a blanket or go meet Santa at the breakfast and family activities running throughout the day.
If that's not enough, there will also be apres ski nights; drag, club classics and disco brunches; new permanent kitchen residencies and plenty of rotating street food vendors that will keep you returning to Chow Down each week to find out what's cooking.
After checking out the best of the Winter Village, simply people watching by the flames with a boozy hot chocolate might just be the relaxing end to your evening that you need.
But if you are hyped up from the array of winter cocktails, mulled wine and cider, embrace your surroundings and enjoy a night of entertainment from headline DJs and live performances.
The inviting space, filled with cosy corners, atmospheric lighting is always busy, whatever weekend you visit. It quickly became the social hub of the city over the summer and now that we are bunkering down for the colder months, their Winter Village is expected to keep the same equilibrium between intimacy and chatter, but with endless seasonal surprises.
Chow Down showed off their illustrated plans on Instagram this morning, but the rest of the details are being carefully kept under wraps until further notice. / Image: Chow Down
Chow Down have previously hosted food traders like Hun Street Kitchen, Tikka Chance on Me, Goodtime Tacos and Takin' Care of Burgers, so we will all be excited to hear about which vendors will be present at the Winter Village in November.
For now, exclusive details can only be accessed via their email subscription where the popular open air bar promise to give subscribers the opportunity to be 'first to hear about our plans and for exclusive priority access to tickets'.
If you can't wait until November to see the best of what Chow Down have to offer, their Halloween event will give you a tease of the atmosphere. The four-day event promises plenty of spooky street food, live DJs and bands.
Previous events have been a big hit with Leeds. / Image: Chow Down
The whole family are invited to craft workshops, drag brunch and there will even be a Halloween production over the weekend.
The event have confirmed food from Chow Down's favourite pizza vendor: Homeboy Pizza, plus much more on the day.
To prepare for these upcoming events, Chow Down will be closed for the next three weeks but it is clear that the return of the open air experience will be bigger and better than ever before.
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.”
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 -
7th October 2021 
