Schools are out for the holidays and we’ve got an extended bank holiday weekend to look forward to this week now Easter is here.
So it's no surprise that Leeds is jam packed with exciting things to get up to, from Easter egg hunts to fashion shows- there's an event for everyone to enjoy this first week of April.
We’ve cherry-picked a few of the best bits happening across the city and beyond so get your diary out and keep reading.
Burrowing Bunnies Easter Trail
Monday 3 – Sunday 9 April 2023 | White Rose Shopping Centre
Image: Supplied
There’s nothing like a bunny trail to get you in the Easter spirit. White Rose Shopping Centre will be hosting a fantastically free Burrowing Bunnies Easter Trail where families are invited to find eight mischievous bunnies hiding around the centre.
And the best part is, after you’ve completed the trail and located each mischievous bunny then you can trade in your map at the end for a delicious Easter treat and a pair of adorable rabbit ears.
RUN is an exciting programme of events overseen by internationally acclaimed Yorkshire designer, and Leeds Beckett University Professor, Matty Bovan. Leeds Beckett University are inviting fashion and art enthusiasts to get involved with RUN – am unmissable live photoshoot takeover at Trinity Leeds on Tuesday 4 April 2023.
This exciting one-day-only showcase is a fashion first for the city and will debut the graduate collections of Leeds Beckett University’s Fashion Class of 2023.
Wednesday 5 April 2023 | North Street, Leeds City Centre
Image: The Brunswick
Support your local beer gaff with a pint in one hand and a burger in the other – it sounds like the hump day cure dreams are made of if you ask us. The independent bar has been serving since 2015 and has punters returning for its laid back ambience and events aplenty.
Grab yourself a beer and a burger for £10 every Wednesday as part of the ongoing foodie offers at The Brunswick.
The rugby star turned podcaster and author of Sunday Times Bestselling book ‘What A Flanker‘, James Haskell will be telling all at City Varieties this month. The show will see Haskell talk about everything from his ‘mischievous’ school days to playing around the world as a professional rugby player, including at Wasps, Northampton, Stade Francais, The Ricoh Black Rams, and The Highlanders.
In honour of Easter bank holiday weekend, Beck and Call will be hosting a night dedicated to Britpop where local DJ's will be playing all of the Oasis, Blur and Pulp you could imagine.
Entry is completely free and the event kicks off at 7pm until late.
Chow Down Opening
From Thursday 6 April 2023 | Temple Arches, Leeds city centre
Image: Chapter 81
The Temple Arches venue is set to host a brand-new Urban Garden space, perfect for soaking up the summer sun. The new addition will make Chow Down ‘the largest garden in the city centre’, with the jam-packed events calendar lasting all summer long.
Sell-out successes like Bingo Lingo, Camp Presents Drag Brunch and DJ nights will return for the 2023 season, and there’s been a huge injection in new food festivals and days and nights out in the city centre that’ll have people across Leeds and beyond heading down to the arches.
Looking to let your hair down this Easter Bank Holiday weekend? Then Belgrave Music Hall and Canteen is the place to be.
Over the course of the weekend they'll be hosting some brilliant DJ's and music acts which you can enjoy in one of Leeds' best music venues. Grab some pizza from Dough Boys whilst you're there and get your foot-tapping and head bobbing.
For a full list of Belgrave's events, take a look here.
Kids eat free offers
Throughout the Easter holidays | Various locations
Images: Bills / YO Sushi!
Easter half-term is on the horizon and if you’re looking to take your kids out for a day of fun, here is a list of places where they can eat for free to help you save a few pennies.
Whether you’re on the move and need a quick meal deal or fancy a mid-week meal out with all the family, or you simply just want them to eat something other than chocolate eggs – there’s an offer here which will definitely suit you.
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?
Clementine Hall -
3rd April 2023 
