We're loving the longer evenings, the sunnier skies and all the exciting events that we've been getting up to this month.
And this week is no exception, have a read of the handful of events we've cherry picked for you to get up to this weekend in and around the city.
Burrowing Bunnies Trail
Monday 8 – Sunday 14 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.
Leodis Space Agency
Monday 1 April – Monday 14 April 2024 | Around Leeds
The Leodis Space Agency has launched in Leeds – and there’s loads of activities for the little ones to get involved in throughout the Easter holidays. There’s family-friendly craft sessions hosted daily from 10am to 3pm at Trinity Leeds; a community Rocket Build with The PlayTent until 5 April and the Merrion Centre is hosting its very own alien zoo as part of an interactive mixed reality exibit.
Find out more here.
Leigh Francis: My First Time
Saturday 6 April 2024 | Grand Theatre, Leeds
Leigh Francis: My First Time is coming to stages across the UK and as the name suggests, it actually marks the Leeds comedian’s first time on the road for a live tour.
The 18 date tour will see plenty of familiar characters brought to life from over the years including Keith Lemon, Bear and Avid Merrion to ‘David Dickinson‘, ‘Ant and Dec‘ and Myrtle.
Salt and Pepper Okra Fries, ‘Prawn’ Gobi Toast and Gobi Manchurian are all back by popular demand on the Bundobust menu this spring.
Ever since we got our chops round their ‘Prawn’ Gobi Toast in 2022, we’ve been dreaming about it ever since. It's the final week to enjoy these amazing specials, so get there quick as they're the best of the best.
Tuesday 9 April – Friday 12 April 2024 | Leeds Playhouse
Image: Supplied
The Brit Award winning musician Tom Fletcher’s interactive adventures for big imaginations will be leaping from page to screen and we cannot wait. The high-energy 50-minute production features lively original music, and is the perfect introduction to live theatre for youngsters.
Boojum is opening in Leeds on Wednesday 10 April and the first 300 customers will get a free burrito from 12pm.
We flew all the way to Dublin this month to check out the top-rated Mexican eatery ahead of its opening – and if you watch you’ll see why.
LS6 Junk Yard Sale
Sunday 14 April 2024 | Left Bank Leeds
Image: The Hoot Leeds
In the heart of LS6 you’ll be able to attend a garage sale with a difference in April. The monthly Junk Yard Sale is set up inside the Left Bank with rows-upon-rows of traders and you can bet that there will be plenty of bits and bobs to take home with you.
Find out more here.
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 -
5th April 2024 
