Leeds

There’s a huge Holi Festival celebration coming to Leeds in March

Leeds Holi Festival is all about celebrating peace, love and equality with bright colours and live music.

Sophie Smith Sophie Smith - 28th February 2022

Holi Festival, known as the Festival of Colours, is back this year as a celebration that can finally return in person.

To mark the end of the two-year hiatus, Leeds Holi Festival is Leeds biggest festival of colour and you can bet that this year's celebration is going to more than make up for lost time.

The event celebrates forgiveness and peace and is widely celebrated in places like India, Nepal and Pakistan, as well as around in a whole host of events around the world.

Image: John Thomas, Unsplash

Here in Leeds, the celebrations will involve the traditional dry powder paints, as well as the serving of street food, live DJs and performances right in the heart of the city.

On Sunday 20 March, a seven hour festival run by the Leeds Indian Student Association will return to the Beaverworks.

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Image: Leeds Holi Festival

Leeds Holi Festival is all about celebrating peace, love and equality with bright colours and live music- and we can't wait to celebrate the Festival of Colour in such a friendly environment.

Organiser Eshaan told The Hoot Leeds that: "Colour festival is all about peace, love, equality. It eliminates all negativity like racism, religion etc. It unites people from different cultures" and sounds like the ultimate celebration to us.

Image: Leeds Holi Festival

There will be four live DJs including Bollynights team, performances from talent near and far, as well as street food from local takeaway and catering service Punjabi Heaven.

Slingsby Gin have agreed to sponsor the event, where you'll leave covered head to toe in bright colours from Ministry of Colours.

"Holi is a festival of love, peace and happiness. A celebration of fertility, colour, and love, as well as the triumph of good versus evil. Join the party as we welcome the spring and celebrate the new life and energy of the season through music and colour."

Image: Leeds Holi Festival

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The festival last took place in 2019, and the long-awaited return has been highly anticipated. Tier one tickets have already sold out for the seven hour event, but remaining tier two tickets are still available for purchase.

For more information, visit the Leeds Holi Colours Festival 2022 Instagram Page.

Feature Image- Leeds Holi Festival

Leeds

Audio North’s Artist of the Month – Lucky Iris | August 2026

Declan Kelly Declan Kelly Lucky Iris - Audio North Artist of the Month

There’s something about Lucky Iris that feels completely made for a packed-out club at 1am.

The Leeds-based duo, made up of Maeve and Jasper, have spent the last few years carving out a sound that refuses to sit neatly inside one box. Hyperpop, electro, indie, dance, synth-pop throw it all in, and you’re somewhere close, but even then, Lucky Iris are busy smashing those pop archetypes to pieces.

And right now, they’re doing it better than ever.

After a huge 2025, Lucky Iris have kicked off 2026 with their debut mixtape, 'fall in love with the dj', a project that feels like the culmination of everything the pair have been building towards since their bedroom-pop beginnings during lockdown.

Released in January via Launchpad+ and EMI North, the six-track mixtape takes Lucky Iris back to the place that shaped them: sweaty, low-lit, bass-heavy rooms where music becomes something bigger than just something playing through a speaker.

As Maeve puts it, the project is about 'finally making the music we want to hear', and that philosophy runs through every corner of the record.

FROM BEDROOM POP TO ELECTRO CHAOS

Lucky Iris might now be turning heads across the UK, but their story started much closer to home.

What began as a bedroom pop experiment during lockdown has evolved into something far more ambitious. The pair have continually pushed their sound forward, experimenting with electronic production and finding a space somewhere between alternative pop and the dancefloor.

Lucky Iris on a tour of Leeds with The Hoot
Lucky Iris on a tour of Leeds with The Hoot
Lucky Iris on a tour of Leeds with The Hoot. Credit: The Hoot Leeds

Their latest mixtape is arguably the clearest expression of that evolution yet.

Tracks like i just want to dance, play me like a speaker and heart 4 heart had already started building serious momentum throughout 2025, giving listeners a taste of the direction Lucky Iris were heading in.

Then came 'fall in love with the dj'.

The title track captures exactly what makes the duo so exciting. It’s not simply a song about going out it’s about that strange, almost euphoric feeling of losing yourself in music.

THEIR BREAKOUT YEAR

2025 was the year Lucky Iris started making serious noise.

The duo completed their first UK tour supporting Master Peace, while also sharing stages with artists including Babymorocco, Dorian Electra, Hannah Diamond, Bimini and Jessica Winter. They also made an appearance at SXSW London.

DIY, Wonderland, The Forty Five and BBC Radio 1 have all been among the tastemakers backing the duo.

The duo were also selected as a Spotify RADAR Artist of the Week/First Listen Artist, joining a list of previous RADAR artists that includes Griff, Central Cee, Rose Grey, Barry Can't Swim and Rachel Chinouriri. Artists who have all gone on to achieve big things, and it appears that Lucky Iris are heading in those footsteps.

Not bad for a project that started in a bedroom.

LEEDS IS WRITTEN ALL OVER IT

There’s also something particularly Leeds about Lucky Iris.

The city has been part of their story from the beginning, from those early nights out that inspired their music to the grassroots venues such as Hyde Park Book Club where they developed their live show.

And live is where Lucky Iris really come alive.

Their commanding performances have become a major part of their identity, transforming their electronic productions into something that feels less like watching a band and more like stumbling into the middle of a party, from larger-scale production to smaller settings like Rat and Pigeon in Manchester we’re we recently saw them transform the space into a hyper-pop evening alongside similar artists.

They’ve even managed to bring their music and their football obsession together.

As lifelong Tottenham Hotspur fans, Maeve and Jasper have collaborated with the club, featured on Sky News and appeared pitchside at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the club’s The Warm Up series. Their music has also found its way onto the Premier League Official Playlist.

Because apparently Lucky Iris weren’t content with taking over the dancefloor, they wanted the football stadium too.

MAKING MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE WHO NEED IT

Ultimately, Lucky Iris aren't trying to reinvent pop for the sake of it. They’re making the kind of music they genuinely want to hear.

Music that is loud.
Music that is messy.
And music that understands why we keep going back to clubs, gigs and dancefloors in the first place.

'fall in love with the dj' feels like a statement of intent from a duo who have finally found their sweet spot. It’s crunchy, electronic and relentlessly fun, but underneath all that noise is something incredibly human: the desire to feel something.

And with everything Lucky Iris have achieved already, it feels like we’re only just getting started.

Keep an eye on them because if the last 12 months are anything to go by, the Leeds duo are going to be making a whole lot more noise.

Read more: TESTBED unveils major transformation to become Leeds’ premier destination for music and culture

Featured image: Press

Leeds

A brand-new kite festival is coming to a country house in Leeds next weekend

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall

Colourful kites will paint the sky next weekend as Lotherton Hall is gearing up for its first ever Kite Festival.

Taking place on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 August, over 30 kites of all different colours, shapes and sizes will take to the sky, flown by professional fliers from all over the country.

Visitors can expect some of the world’s largest inflatable kites, and you may even spot some in the shape of your favourite character.

Not only that, but children can bring in their bravest teddies that will, weather permitting, be dropped from the sky, equipped with parachutes so they can sail down safely to their owners.

Image: Supplied

Entry to the kite festival is included in the Lotherton Hall admission, where there will also be a fun house, bumper cars and face painting as well as food stalls to keep you fuelled up for the day.

The festival is organised by The Northern Kite Group who are behind the hugely popular kite festivals in Filey, Bridlington and Redcar, so you just know we're in for a treat.

Councillor James Gibson, Leeds City Council’s executive member for environment, said: “We’re very excited to be bringing this kite festival to Lotherton for the very first time, one which I’m sure will be a brilliant day out for the whole family.

“Lotherton is one of our most loved attractions and it has so much to offer for the summer, with a full activity schedule for the school holidays as well as Wildlife World and deer park tours.”

Sarah Duncalf, secretary from Northern Kite Group said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be bringing a kite festival to Lotherton this summer. The sight of spectacular kites filling the sky is something visitors won’t want to miss.

“From giant inflatable characters and breathtaking displays to our ever-popular teddy bear parachute drop, there will be plenty to entertain the whole family. We’re looking forward to creating a weekend full of colour, excitement and unforgettable memories, and we can’t wait to welcome everyone.”

Find out more here.

Read more: Jacqueline Wilson and Gyles Brandreth among big names announced for Ilkley Literature Festival 2026

Feature image - Supplied




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