The festival returns to Bramham Park in Leeds on August Bank Holiday weekend and here's everything you need to know.
One of the UK's biggest festivals is back this month and is promised to be bigger and better than ever.
The event is expected to see around 100,000 people attend on the August bank holiday weekend from Friday, August 26 to Sunday, August 28 2022.
Returning after a heartbreaking Covid-enforced hiatus, this year there will be two main stages, instead of the usual one, to stop any clashing of the anticipated headline acts.
In total there will be 7 stages at the festival this year as well as 6 headline acts performing, rather than the usual three.
The lineup includes Yorkshire favourites, Arctic Monkeys. The indie icons have been slowly announcing their European tour dates over the past few weeks and have even rumoured that their new album will be released in the new year. This will be the third time that the band have headlined Reading and Leeds Festival.
Image: Arctic Monkeys
The Sheffield-based band will close the festival on Sunday 28 August, but there are plenty of big names to listen to throughout the festival.
Although the set times are yet to be announced, here's a rundown of who's performing on each stage throughout the weekend.
Winter replaces summer in this unsettling Midsummer Night.
A night of dark magic swarmed Leeds Playhouse last night as Headlong Theatre and Shakespeare’s Globe brought a strikingly dark reimagining of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, transforming Shakespeare’s most effervescent comedy into something far more psychologically raw.
For those who don’t know who Headlong Theatre Company are, they are known for their bold reimaginings of classics and for commissioning powerful contemporary plays that provoke fresh ways of seeing familiar texts, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream was their next task, directed by Holly Race Roughan.
Gone was the warmth and floral abundance traditionally associated with the play, a play which is fixated on fairies and magic and all things whimsical. Instead, this production unfolded in a stark, wintry landscape.
Image: Supplied
The eerie white setting with pale tones and biting chill created an atmosphere that felt closer to a nightmare than a fantasy. From the outset, there was a sense that this dream would not offer escapism but confrontation.
In this production, the quartet of lovers Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena played by Tiwa Lade, David Olaniregun, Lou Jackson and Tara Tijani, rendered a complex love story not as the bright, mischievous romantics of summer light, but as figures caught in a corrosive and bruising emotional spiral.
Image: Supplied
The love potion, rather than a whimsical device, became a symbol of manipulation and control.
Whilst the show did have its comedic parts throughout, laughter was present but not like we’d expect a Shakespearean comedy to be. A standout performance throughout was Danny Kirrane’s portrayal of Bottom. Rather than serving solely as comic relief, Kirrane emerged as unexpectedly poignant.
The play-within-a-play still delivered moments of levity, but even here the humour seemed edged with fragility, as though the comedy might fracture at any moment.
Sergo Vares gives a strikingly original and unforgettable portrayal of Puck, transforming Shakespeare’s playful trickster into a darker, more unsettling figure. Ditching the usual impish charm, Vares appears in a peculiar combination of tutu and dinner jacket, his face painted white and movements measured and haunting, commanding the stage with an eerie intensity.
Image: Supplied
Small, seemingly inconsequential actions, like silently eating a banana, become disquieting, while his prowling presence turns mischief into something deliberate and menacing. Surprising entrances and exits keep both characters and audience on edge, and his closing address to the audience carries a sharp, ironic bite that lingers long after the play’s ending.
What distinguished this production was its commitment to exposing the brutality that pulses beneath Shakespeare’s text. Love was presented not as a harmless folly but as a force capable of humiliation, control and harm. The final moments resisted the usual buoyant reconciliation; instead, the ending felt ambiguous, leaving the audience reflective rather than reassured. This was not a dream bathed in moonlight and romance as we would have expected.
The production took on a colder, more introspective tone, serving as a striking reminder that even Shakespeare’s lightest comedies contain threads of darkness. Whether audiences find this approach exhilarating or simply a departure from the familiar, it is undeniably thought-provoking, prompting reflection on what kind of “dream” they have truly witnessed.
Overall, reimagining Shakespearean texts like this is an exciting venture, offering fresh opportunities to explore themes that might otherwise remain hidden and Roughan accomplishes this with remarkable ease and insight.
Headlong Theatre Company’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is on at Leeds Playhouse until 28 February 2026 and you can get your tickets here.
Jack Whitehall announces huge Leeds gig as part of brand-new stand-up tour
Clementine Hall
British comedy legend Jack Whitehall is making a triumphant return to Leeds' First Direct Bank Arena.
He'll be bringing his brand-new stand-up tour Jack Whitehall: Bad Influence to Leeds on Saturday 6 February 2027.
The award-winning comedian is heading back on the road for a huge national arena tour that promises bigger laughs than ever before, so get ready to laugh your socks off.
Fresh from starring in crime thrilller Malice on Prime Video and stepping into the spotlight as host of The BRIT Awards, Jack Whitehall is returning to what he does best - live comedy.
Audiences can expect classic Whitehall awkward storytelling, and quick witted observations that has made him one of the UK’s most loved stand-up comedians.
Bad Influence will showcase brand-new material that has been specifically written for 2027.
Jack Whitehall Bad Influence tour dates:
January 2027
Thursday 7 January – Utilita Arena, Newcastle Saturday 9 January – Co-op Live, Manchester Sunday 10 January – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool Tuesday 12 January – Playhouse, Edinburgh Wednesday 13 January – Playhouse, Edinburgh Thursday 14 January – OVO Hydro, Glasgow Saturday 16 January – Utilita Arena, Birmingham Sunday 17 January – Swansea Building Society Arena Wednesday 20 January – Plymouth Arena Thursday 21 January – Plymouth Arena Friday 22 January – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham Saturday 23 January – Utilita Arena, Cardiff Thursday 28 January – Brighton Centre Friday 29 January – Brighton Centre Saturday 30 January – The O2, London
Feburary 2027
Tuesday 2 February – BIC, Bournemouth Wednesday 3 February – Utilita Arena, Sheffield Thursday 4 February – Connexin Live, Hull Saturday 6 February – First Direct Arena, Leeds Sunday 7 Feburary – Vaillant Live, Derby
Jack Whitehall tickets at Leeds' First Direct Bank Arena are available on general sale on this Friday 20 February at 10am. You can get your tickets HERE.
Clementine Hall -
10th August 2022 
