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Leeds International Festival of Ideas returns with huge lineup announcement and brand new venue
"LIFI23 will once again address some of the most important social issues affecting us all, taking them on over 4 inspirational days across 11 events and shining an outspoken light on Leeds, projecting the city once again as a bold, innovative thought-leading city.”
Headlining the event this year will be the likes of Bimini, Ruby Wax and Steven Bartlett.
Taking over Leeds Playhouse, a brand new venue for 2023, Leeds International Festival of Ideas is bringing together some of the most thought-provoking speakers of our time later this year with a diverse programme and educational discussions.
Giving a glimpse of what we're in store for this year, LIFI has announced the first of its highly-anticipated speakers.
Best-selling author and mental health campaigner Ruby Wax will be bringing her unique brand of humour to the festival as she takes the audience on her journey to address the importance of mental wellness.
Ruby Wax is "thrilled to be a part of the line-up". / Image: Supplied
The author, performer and activist is excited about joining the festival: “Leeds International Festival of ideas 2023 looks really exciting and I’m thrilled to be part of the line-up this year. I can’t wait to visit Leeds again and take audiences on my journey to mindfulness.”
Steven Bartlett, perhaps most notably known as the podcaster Diary of a CEO, co-Founder of Social Chain, and also as an investor on Dragon's Den, amongst other business endeavours, will be taking to the stag to share an insight into 'how he spots the next big thing'.
Steven Bartlett will be telling Leeds how he 'spots the next big thing'. / Image: Supplied
Bringing an insight into representation and inclusivity in the media, reality TV star and LGBTQ+ activist Bimini, will also be a key speaker at the International Festival of Ideas.
And this is just the beginning.
The four day festival promises to host a programme of panels and keynotes which focus on topics such as grief, political systems, womxn’s health inequalities and self-sufficiency, among others from Wednesday 27 September - Saturday 30 September 2023.
Bimini is bringing a wealth of knowledge to LIFI23. / Image: Supplied
And what better venue than the Leeds Playhouse?
The award-winning cultural hub was recently recognised at the UK Theatre Awards as the Most Welcoming Theatre in 2022. With a mission to seek out the best companies and artists to create inspirational theatre in the heart of Yorkshire, Leeds Internationals Festival of Ideas, will be joining the long list of exciting productions, festivals and events that Leeds Playhouse have hosted over the past 50 years.
Martin Dickson, Leeds International Festival of Ideas has commented: “We are thrilled with the programme we are bringing to the city for LIFI23, built on the outstanding success of last year, we think it is our strongest speaker line-up yet.
Last year the festival brought conversations about the metaverse, mental health and communities, amongst other exciting discussions. / Image: The Hoot Leeds
We’re also hugely excited to be presenting the festival at the incredible Leeds Playhouse, on of the most famous theatre venue in the city, a privilege and an honour.
LIFI23 will once again address some of the most important social issues affecting us all, taking them on over 4 inspirational days across 11 events and shining an outspoken light on Leeds, projecting the city once again as a bold, innovative thought-leading city.”
There’s a huge outdoor 80s Classical music festival coming to Leeds this summer
The full lineups and tickets will be available from Tuesday 4 April but in the meantime those wanting to grab tickets are encouraged to visit the Leeds International Festival of Ideas website to sign up for announcements and ticket updates.
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The Yorkshire artist who’s put together the official FIFA World Cup scarf collection
A Yorkshire-born and bred artist and his creative team have earned the huge honour of creating the official FIFA scarf collection for this year's World Cup.
Nothing short of massive for anyone from our part of the world.
The local legend in question is Tom Pitts, who was born in Sheffield and is now based just beyond Leeds, leading the campaign right from the helm.
Hand Drawn Pixels is a graphic design and digital studio based in Otley, and while you'll see plenty of folks wearing football shirts and even the odd scarf on the town's famous pub crawl, these lot are venturing on an entirely different kind of run this summer.
In fact, the work has very much already started, with Tom and co. collaborating directly with FIFA and US manufacturers, Global Scarves, to create the World Cup collection.
With this year's tournament obviously taking place across America, Mexico and Canada, they've joined up with a big LLC, but they describe themselves as "a true English custom scarf company with American parents."
In their words, "We knit scarves for clients all over the world", with a presence both near Leeds and over in Seattle, Washington.
The fixtures themselves kick off next month (England's first game coming against Croatia on 17 June), and so Hand Drawn Pixels have been hard at work meeting the briefs for each of the nations taking part.
Here's a quick breakdown of how the opportunity came about, their vision for the project, and how everything starts for them as a whole process.
You can see more of their work HERE, but as the brand name would suggest, it's pretty simple to begin with: nothing more than a pencil.
It's worth noting that the 2026 World Cup also featured the largest number of teams in the competition's history: 48 qualified national squads, to be exact. So, technically, they've had even more designing to do than they theoretically would have in any of the previous years, too.
Tom confessed that winning this bid is obviously a big deal on its own and that seeing his creations being worn in person by supporters at the stadiums will be a "surreal" experience.
Speaking exclusively with The Hoot, he said: "It’s been an amazing creative challenge for us to truly reflect the individuality and diversity of the nations competing in this prestigious tournament on such an iconic product as the football scarf."
He went on to add that "the whole project has been a huge learning experience, gaining deeper cultural insight into every nation involved."
We can't wait to cast eyes upon a sea of colour and finely crafted fabric in unique but somehow universally familiar patterns, all designed right here in 'God's Own Country'.
The Sheffield institution serving the city’s favourite sandwich for over 60 years
Clementine Hall
Of course, it's the one and only Béres.
It all started back in 1961 when Hungarian butcher Sandor Béres left his home city of Budapest during the 1956 uprising against the Stalinist government.
After the government took control of his father's butchers shops, Sandor set out to establish the chain once more and so, Béres was born.
And thank god it was, as for over 60 years now their iconic pork sandwich has been fuelling the hungry people of Sheffield, and we'd go as far to say it's one of the best sarnies in the city.
Images: The Sheff
Hot roast pork, herby stuffing, crispy crackling and fruity apple sauce all crammed into a soft bap - it really doesn’t get much better than that.
But, what makes it so special? Béres claims it's all in the preparation and quality control.
Being a traditional butchers, their pork joints are traditionally roasted and cured in house to give that succulent texture and crispy crackling every single time.
They use around seven tonnes of pork and four tonnes of flour per week to feed us hungry lot, and it's no surprise when you see the queues forming outside your local Béres every lunch time.
Images: The Sheff
The very first shop was born at Wadsley Bridge where they quickly built a reputation for their sandwiches, this then allowed them to become a proper Sheffield household name after expanding rapidly through the 2000s.
They now have 14 sites across Sheffield, and each site is as good as the next. Not only are the pork sandwiches class but if you're ever faced with a hangover no matter how severe, their stacked breakfast baps are always there to save the day.
But why we love Béres most of all is the lovely staff who are always there to offer a smile and a chinwag, but what else do you expect from the people of Sheffield hey?
Sophie Smith -
7th March 2023 
