One of Leeds' best loved outdoor bar spaces is back for the winter months, and bringing some seriously exciting new additions to the line-up.
Bringing together indie food trucks, live music, boozy bingo and the sports of the season, Chow Down's Winter Village is returning in all of its glory- and you'll have a full eight weeks to get yourself down there.
Opening on Thursday 10 November, many a cosy winter night will be spent tucked inside the tipis or watching the World Cup inside the brand new beer hall.
To keep warm, grab a seat by the fire pit, heaters and take a snug, boozy hot chocolate or soothing mulled wine in hand and join your nearest and dearest to cheers to the wintry season ahead.
Image: Chow Down
There's going to be plenty to get involved in too. We're talking the return of the ever-popular drag brunches, as well as Bingo Lingo, comedy nights, a Christmas-themed dog social and the big pub quiz to round off the year with Chow Down Quizmass.
But that's only just the beginning. Given that this festive season is bringing us the 2022 FIFA World Cup for the very first time, Chow Down will be taking full advantage of the showings and allowing those looking for a boozy football experience to watch the games in the Hutte Bavarian Beer Hall.
The atmosphere here will be electric. Expect Huge screen and sound system, steins and beer selection, street food, heaters, table service and pre-match anthems for every single England and Wales match, plus all games from the quarter final onwards.
Match day or not, the rest of the Winter Village will continue to offer some of the most exciting food and drink options throughout the full eight weeks.
The resident kitchen takeovers will be made up of winter warmers from Bastards Bistro and The Middle Feast, with tasty sweet treats from The Savvy Baker filling diners between drinks.
Image: Chow Down
If that's not enough, the rotating traders and open fire cooking will come from a vast range of Leeds' favourite street food vendors. Burger favourites Meat Stack will make their Chow Down debut whilst Luigi Street Food will serve up delectable slices.
Mans Market will be taking their Chinese cuisine to the next level with their pop-up truck, and names like Bento Box, Heffe Mojo, Tikka Chance on Me, Little Red Food Cluck! Oi Dumplings, Sabroso Street, Eat Like a Greek, Niko's Comfort Kitchen, Korean Grub Club, Hoi Polloi Street Kitchen, and Igloo Pizza will ensure nobody leaves hungry, no matter your foodie preference.
Stu Butterworth, one of Chow Down's founders is excited about the new season: “After a hugely successful debut Winter Village last year, we’re back for 2022 with a revamped venue full of exciting changes. After consumer feedback and the ongoing cost of living crisis, entry will now be free for the vast majority of our 8 week run, with events such as drag brunch, our World Cup screenings and headline DJs such as Norman Jay still ticketed.
"We’re once again super excited to bring an array of incredible festive food, drinks and entertainment to the centre of Leeds this Christmas and we’re looking forward to getting festive with everyone from November onwards”
Chow Down will open from Thursday 10 November 2022 until New Years Eve, with bookings open from Tuesday 4 October 2022.
Feature Image- Chow Down
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Get Baked’s viral ‘Bertha’ cake has a sister on the way – and she sounds just as cheeky
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.”
Leeds Tattoo Expo to return to the First Direct Arena for 10th anniversary
Clementine Hall
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 -
29th September 2022 
