Feature

The best things to do in and around Leeds this week | 15 – 21 April 2024

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Clementine Hall Clementine Hall - 15th April 2024

It's finally starting to feel like spring, don't you think?

The turn of the season has already brought with it food festivals, amazing music gigs and annual events, and thankfully, there’s loads more in Leeds' social calendar for everyone of all ages to be getting involved with throughout this week too.

Keep reading to see some of our recommendations for what you can get up to this week.

Burrowing Bunnies Trail

Monday 15 April – Tuesday 16 April 2024 | White Rose Shopping Centre

Image: White Rose

From 31st March to 16th April, families are invited to find eight mischievous bunnies hiding around the shopping centre. Free trail maps are available to collect from the Customer Service Centre, on the Ground Floor near New Look, and can be returned and traded in for an Easter treat and a pair of adorable ears after each bunny has been located and ticked off the map. 

Take That

Wednesday 17 April – Saturday 20 April 2023 | First Direct Arena

Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen.
Image: See Tickets

Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen are heading back on tour for another year – and as with all Take That gigs, there’s a lot of hype around the six-day leg in Yorkshire. Tickets are still available (just about) from £69.05 for seats – £241.95 for VIP package, all available via See Tickets here

Find out more here.

World Record Store Day 2024

Saturday 20 April 2024

Image: The Hoot Leeds

We don’t need much of an excuse to go shopping for vinyls and CDs – but World Record Store Day will do just fine.

Whether you’ve been an avid collector of vinyls and CDs or you’ve jumped on the band wagon this time round, there’s nothing quite like grabbing yourself a new disc for your record player.

Read more: The best places to shop for vinyl records in and around Leeds

Boojum

All week | 92 Merrion Street, LS2 8NG

The cult Mexican eatery is now in its first full week of opening, and it's safe to say it's taken the city by storm.

Hefty burritos, fresh salad bowls and layered rice boxes all made using only the freshest ingredients. Your next lunch spot is sorted.

Deep Fried Lasagna Van by Stuzzi

Throughout April | Trinity Kitchen

Image: The Hoot Leeds

If you’ve ever been to a Stuzzi pop-up across the city, you’ll most certainly have tried the speciality deep fried lasagna.⁠
⁠
Now for those that can’t wait until the next big event to get their hands on another one of these comfort dishes, Trinity Kitchen is hosting Stuzzi every single day of the week in April. There’s going to be four different types of deep-fried lasagna to choose from, including tomato mozzarella and basil; sausage and pea; four cheese and the classic.

Read more: The new neighbourhood sandwich shop with queues down the street every single day

Featured images - The Hoot Leeds / See Tickets

Feature

World Book Day: The coolest independent book shops to visit in Leeds

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall

Today marks 29 years of World Book Day- so why not celebrate with a brand new book from one of Leeds' independent book shops?

A day dedicated to all things literature that's remained at the heart of the UK's Primary School agenda for over a quarter of a century now.

The number of indie book shops is finally increasing across the UK once more, meaning there are more spots than ever to pick up a book or spend your World Book Day token.

It's not just the crease of corners and the smell of mass produced paper that your online book can't quite replicate, it's the recommendations, the exciting new covers and the warm coffee that matches the mood in most book stores. They're welcoming places, full of like-minded people, and they're certainly worth a visit, even if you haven't turned a page in years.

In Leeds, we're fortunate to have our pick of independent bookshops, granted they're hidden between the odd Waterstones and W H Smiths, but we still have plenty to offer.

Here are our favourite places to grab a new book from an independent seller...

Hold Fast Bookshop

Leeds Dock | Open Thursday - Sunday

Images: The Hoot Leeds

HoldFast is a book and plant store that champions independent artists, local authors all onboard an old coal boat called Marjorie R. Owners Chris and Victoria Bonner actually lived on the boat for a good few years before deciding to protect the future of the 76 year old boat by turning it into a business.

This is the perfect place to grab a new read. There’s a real community feel about the place, with talks from local authors and Chris and Victoria welcome anyone in to spend hours pouring over their hand picked selection of new and preloved books.

Colours May Vary

Leeds Corn Exchange

Images: The Hoot Leeds

Located inside the Corn Exchange in a sun-drenched top floor store, Colours May Vary is a celebration of independently published zines, unusual books and wholesome gifts that suit birthdays, parties, get well soons and congrats for all ages.

If you're on the hunt for a magazine that's more art than 'trash' content, this is the place to browse. There's a beautiful selection of limited edition prints, as well as some more popular independent magazines and books to choose from.

Find out more here.

The Little Bookshop

Harrogate Road, Chapel Allerton

book.
Image: The Little Book Shop Leeds Kids

Dedicated to children's books, including some rather incredible novels on young activism and social justice, The Little Bookshop is a one-of-a-kind bookshop that's worth the trek over to suburb Chapel Allerton. The quaint little store is full of enough books to allow a child's imagination to run wild and the selection is varied enough to be challenging and bring up different topics of discussion. There's an adults section too, just through the back of the store- so there's something for all ages to find.

On International Women's Day, Wednesday 9 March, the bookshop will be joined by special guest, Kate Pankhurst, a British author and illustrator and the woman behind the phenomenon 'Fantastically Great Women That Changed The World'.

The Bookish Type

Great George Street

Images: The Hoot Leeds

The Bookish Type is an indie queer bookshop with a lot to offer. Run by Nicola Hargrave and Ray Larman, this place champions the voices and stories of the LGBT+ community with its range of memoirs, novels, plays and children's books.

There's also a fantastic selection of zines available covering everything from mental health to the history of the trans communities.

Village

Thorton's Arcade, Lands Lane

Self-published books and zines can be found inside Village, one of Leeds few independent booksellers in the city centre. The bookshop can be found within Thornton's Arcade and is locally known for its extensive copies of art-themed books and curated fashion and design selection.

Special edition hardbacks and paperbacks can be found amongst the gallery space used to showcase up-and-coming talent, and there's a decent selection of good old fashioned novels too.

Find out more here.

Oxfam Books

Otley Road, Headingley | Open from 9.15am

book held up.
Image: The Hoot Leeds

Home of pre-loved books that are still in good condition, Oxfam Books is where books find a new home and all the proceeds go to charity. It's the recycling eco-friendly bookstore that actually has a decent selection of new and old favourites- so yeah, it's not an independent, but it's all for a good cause.

The selection here is far from your average charity shop shelf, there's aisle upon aisle of fiction, including vintage Penguin classics, as well as shelves of University-level textbooks, cookery books and niche topics like politics, history and languages piled high.

Find out more here.

Leeds Little Libraries

Various locations around Leeds

little library box.
Image: The Hoot Leeds

Since 2017, Leeds Little Free Libraries have been popping up all over the city, with a mission to encourage random acts of kindness by leaving books for others to read.

The little libraries can be found using an interactive online map to help guide users to their nearest library, where they can pick up and drop off literature of any kind. The Little Free Library continues to surprise locals with its locations ranging from Bradford and Pudsey to Wakefield, Ossett, as well as covering the majority of villages close to the city centre like Headingley, Chapel Allerton, Armley and there’s even a little lending library down by Leeds Docks too.

The online interactive map will help visitors to find their nearest little library.

Find out more here.

Read more: British Pie Week 2026 – all the best places to find a pie in and around Leeds

Featured image - The Hoot Leeds

Feature

British Pie Week 2026 – all the best places to find a pie in and around Leeds

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall

Sweet, savoury, filled or plain: pies are a staple in the British diet.

It's the best week of the year...it's British Pie Week, not that we need much of an excuse to celebrate that flaky, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth pastry, but we're taking all the excuses we can this week to embrace all things pie related.

We've rounded up al our favourite spots to grab a pie, as a lunchtime snack or on the go in the city centre - so take your pick, whatever the occasion.

Dave's Pies and Ales

Kirkstall Road, Burley | Open from 5pm

Images: The Hoot Leeds

Dave's Pies and Ales is locally known as the smallest pub in Leeds - and whilst the menu and seating area might be teeny, what it does do, it does well.

Choose from a range of pies and peas with classic ales on tap to choose from inside this micropub 12-11pm every day of the week.

Whitelocks Ale House

Turk's Head Yard, just off Briggate | Kitchen open from 12pm

Image: The Hoot Leeds

Whitelocks is known in Leeds for its Sunday Roasts, warm fire and homely pub ambience- but their pies are the unsung heroes on the menu.

The beef and ale pie is made from Yorkshire Meat Co. beef, a Wetherby-based supplier that brings beef from the likes of Tancred Grange Farm in Richmond to Leeds. This one is served with chunky chips and sautéed seasonal veg, seat by the fireplace optional.

Pieminister

Duncan Street, Leeds city centre | Open from 12pm

Images: The Hoot Leeds

Available as a Sunday roast, bottomless brunch or just a plain old (but beautifully presented) pie and mash, Pieminister is famous for its pies for all the right reasons. On the shelves in your local supermarkets and available as a sit-down scran on Boar Lane, Pieminister is a place where pies are guaranteed to make up the majority of the menu options.

Finer Pleasures

Multiple locations

If you don't know about Josh at Finer Pleasures, then you're seriously missing out. Josh is somewhat of a pie-oneer (sorry), and is the master of creating weird and wonderful pie creations from lasagna pies to gammon, egg and pineapple pork pies.

You can find him over in Crossgates most Wednesdays, but you're best bet is to keep an eye on his socials for the best chance on bagging one of his pies. Trust us, they're like gold dust.

Wilsons Butchers

Austhorpe Road, Cross Gates | Open from 7.30am

Image: Wilsons Butchers

Located in Armley, Morley and Pontfract - Wilsons Pies and Pasties is a small indie chain from Wilsons Butchers and crowned champions of the Yorkshire Small Pork Pie Championships.

At lunch time, the shops offer a true Yorkshire delicacy of pie and mushy pies with optional (but essential) mint sauce. All Wilsons pies and pasties are made using locally sourced produce in Garforth, so these a true Leeds pies, and well worth sampling.

Read more: Inside Leeds’ newest Italian cafe and gelateria that’s inspired by the streets of Puglia

Featured images - The Hoot Leeds

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