Mint Festival is back for 2021 - and the line up has just dropped.
The Leeds house, techno and electronica festival has confirmed it will be returning for 2021 with a brand new venue as it celebrates a whopping ten decades in the game.
With big headline sets from the likes of Patrick Topping, Ricardo Villalobos, Darius Syrossian, Eats Everything and more, plus a still to be announced special guest slot, you won't want to miss out.
Hosted this year at Newsam Green Farm, under ten minutes from Leeds city centre, it looks set to be a mega all-dayer - with four separate arenas hosting over 25 DJs and artists in total.
Spread over 136 acres of land, there'll be rolling hills, magical woodlands and bricked orchard gardens to explore at the brand new, purpose-built site. Originally an open coal mine and then a livestock farm, alongside the four main stages there'll also be a special food village, VIP areas and more.
Mint festival favourite Patrick Topping will be returning with a headline slot at his very own Bunker arena. His Trick label will be coming to Mint this year, giving its name to an entire stage stacked with talent curate by the UK DJ and promoter: including Maya Jane Coles, Ammara, Elliot Adamson, Gerd Janson and Will Clarke.
Patrick Topping
Meanwhile, house music darling Darius Syrossian will be heating things up at The Terrace Party in The Valley, accompanied by the likes of East End Dubs, Eats Everything, Seb Zito and Tobias.
Elsewhere, London promoters FUSE will be teaming up with Leeds' night System to curate the line-up on their Fuse / System stage in The Orchard. Here ravers can expect a back to back set of deep, minimal house from Ricardo Villalobos and Enzo Siragusa, plus appearances from minimal techno DJ Raresh, Berlin Dj duo the Ghost, Fuse's Rich Nxt and Mint club residents Annie Errez and Bobby ODonnell.
Last but definitely not least, over on the MINT presents open air stage it's a heavy techno affair. Partygoers can expect some big sets from Belgian techno producer Amelie Lens, Berlin-based raw techno DJ Dax J and Farrago from Amelie Lens' Lenske label; plus Manchester-based DJ duo OC & Verde, Pan-Pot, Signal's promoter DJ Sofi and established techno duo Spektre.
“We have worked incredibly hard during lockdown to pull this one off safely within government guidelines," said co-owner Baz Arjomand.
"We're delighted to have been able to put together such a strong line up of local as well as international talents in these challenging times, and cannot wait to open the gates.
"As soon as the Roadmap out of lockdown was revealed, demand for tickets went through the roof and we sold six months of tickets in under 48 hours!"
Taking place at a brand new venue this year, 90% of tickets for the festival are already sold out with pre-sale tickets being made available to subscribers from 9am on Friday 14th May.
It's anticipated that Mint will sell out during the presale period - so if you want to get your hands on some, you'll need to sign up before the midnight deadline on Thursday 13th May.
If not, general sale will launch on Monday 17th May at 9am.
News
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.
Georgina Pellant -
11th May 2021 
