Halloween and Bonfire Night have been and gone… so you know what that means? The festive season is well and truly upon us.
Yes that's right, the city is slowly becoming illuminated by twinkling Christmas lights and with it come a host of festivities to get us really in the spirit.
Santa himself will be touching down at White Rose centre and a whole host of exciting new openings will be popping up in the city centre.
Keep reading to see what you can get up to this week.
Leeds International Film Festival
Friday 3 November – Sunday 19 November 2023 | Various locations
Image: Leeds International Film Festival
The longest ever LIFF is taking place this month and after three years of missing out, Hyde Park Picture House is returning as a key venue for 2023. There’s a huge selection of indie movies to check out this year, with around 200 different films being shown across the seventeen-day festival.
Monday 6 November - Wednesday 31 January | Roundhay Park
Image: The English Art Co
Nothing says Christmas than getting wrapped up and strolling leisurely round a market.
And it’s not just the city centre that will be filled with stalls and visitors this year, as Roundhay Park is getting in on the action with a brand new Christmas Market and art exhibition. Art Roundhay Park will showcase new original artwork inspired by the astonishing beauty of Yorkshire’s landscapes, coastlines and wildlife.
The exciting new opening will also feature a Christmas Market where visitors can shop gifts perfect for the big day. It’s the perfect opportunity to get something extra special which you won’t find anywhere else.
Santa lands at White Rose
From Saturday 11 November 2023, 10am – 6pm | White Rose Shopping Centre
Images: White Rose Shopping Centre
Santa’s Grotto is landing at White Rose Shopping Centre again this year and staying right up until Christmas. You’ll find both Santa and his elves located at the main shopping centre and we’ve even had a tip off that he’s bringing presents for anyone who pays him a visit too.
Popular Leeds brewery Northern Monk has taken over the old Assembly Underground site, and it is a must visit now it enters into its first week of opening.
‘The Northern Market’ – a brand new city centre venture from the famous brewery will feature a bustling food market, beer hall and of course a fully stocked bar pouring the freshest Northern Monk beers from 10 tap lines and on-site beer tanks.
Food vendors so far include Falafel Guys, Big Buns and Six Slice Pizza with more set to be announced over the next few weeks.
Opening Monday 6 October 2023 | Boar Lane, Leeds City Centre
The London-born pizzeria is expanding, and Leeds is lucky enough to be its next stop. Think fluffy ‘bready’ bases, slightly charred for that authentic Neapolitan taste, dusted off with fresh tomato marinara sauce and mozzarella – each paired with a different combination of toppings.
Whilst there’s no opening date announced just yet, Pizza Pilgrims has confirmed it will be opening on Boar Lane in Leeds City Centre, with signs going up earlier this week inside the former Beer Hawk site, advertising free pizzas ‘and other goodies’.
In case you missed it, JLS are getting the band back together and heading out on a massive UK tour this year. And of course, they're stopping off in Leeds at the First Direct Arena.
After finishing runners-up on reality singing competition X Factor, JLS broke through in 2009 when their debut single ‘Beat Again’ shot straight to number one on the UK Top 40, before their follow-up singles ‘Everybody In Love’, ‘The Club Is Alive’, ‘Love You More’, and ‘She Makes Me Wanna’ also enjoyed chart success.
For all the JLS lovers out there, we are sure it's going to be a night to remember.
Leeds
Loyle Carner at Kirkstall Abbey – the perfect match of artist and venue
One of Britain's best performed to a pack-out crowd at Leeds' historic Kirkstall Abbey.
If there was ever a venue designed to make you feel like you've accidentally wandered into the coolest history lesson of your life, it's Kirkstall Abbey.
Ancient ruins, blazing sunshine, pints in plastic cups and thousands of people flocking for the one and only Loyle Carner? Not a bad way to spend a Saturday we think.
And it wasn't just Loyle who we were treated to either, the entire day as part of Above All Else Festival saw a bill of groove-fuelled acts take to the stage.
Bricknasty, Kofi Stone, Kokoroko and Jordan Rakei delivered fabulous sets and warmed us up very nicely indeed for the man himself.
Fresh from the release of Hopefully!, Carner arrived to deafening cheers, wasting little time before settling into the laid-back confidence that has become his trademark.
And he didn't waste time getting into his catalogue of hits either as he seamlessly transitioned from one banger to the next.
It really felt like a celebration of his work, and he himself welled up at the sea of people singing his songs back to him over and over again.
Of course, highlights included Loose Ends and Ottolenghi but dedicating Hate to Nigel Farage was nothing short of iconic.
This is a rapper that has executed the delivery between syncopation and rhythm perfectly, but it's his lyrics that keep you going back for more.
Of course Kirkstall Abbey itself deserves plenty of credit, as the sun went down the abbey was lit up and created probably the most cinematic backdrop for a gig you can imagine.
What stood out most, though, was the atmosphere. There was a proper sense of community throughout the evening, with strangers dancing together and friends rapping every word arm in arm.
Loyle Carner has long been regarded as one of Britain's most thoughtful voices in hip-hop, but nights like this show why his appeal stretches far beyond the genre.
What's next for Loyle Carner? We're not sure, but we feel very lucky to have shared this moment with him, and you could tell he did too.
The Maccabees at Kirkstall Abbey – musical reunion of the decade?
Daisy Jackson
When bands reunite, it's usually pretty easy to guess what the motive is. A looming tax bill, an incoming divorce, a tanking solo career, for example.
But with The Maccabees, those scenarios feel a long way removed.
This is a band that called it a day at the top of their game - and then have returned even stronger, and seemingly because they just missed being on stage together.
Addressing the near-decade apart while on stage at Kirkstall Abbey, The Maccabees frontman Orlando Weeks sums it up simply: "For a long time we were a band, and then we weren't a band for a bit, and now we're a band again."
He's as softly-spoken a frontman as they come, but then The Maccabees never have leaned entirely on their frontman for their live energy - not when he's flanked by the White brothers.
Felix White spends half the gig sporting an ear-splitting grin, and the other half screaming words of encouragement at the audience like a crazed Top of the Pops presenter. The organised-fun patter might grate if he weren't so phenomenal the moment the music starts again.
Then brother Hugo is a brooding, powerful figure, usually standing with his legs so wide apart I'm surprised he doesn't split his trousers. His stage presence is so cool, so confident, it's hard to take your eyes off him.
Orlando's otherworldly voice is really allowed to shine through with songs like Spit It Out, when the stage reduces to a single spotlight and the other band members actually squat down to minimise the distractions.
The tempo shifts of Marks to Prove It, the urgency of X-Ray and the layered beauty of Wall of Arms all underline just how tightly the band play together.
There will be new music on the way, eventually, and they give us a glimpse into that with The Ballad of So Long, a swooping epic that suggests they still have somewhere new to go.
It's hard to complain that they don't have much more to show us yet - not when the alternative is a greatest hits, belt-every-word live show.
By the end of the night, as The Maccabees wrap up their show at Kirkstall Abbey, there's a quiet confidence about them. They know this comeback works, and we'll be lapping it up for as long as they'll stick around.
Judging by the reaction inside Kirkstall Abbey, everyone else does too.
Clementine Hall -
6th November 2023 
