A huge rum festival is coming to Leeds next month and it sounds incredible.
Hosted by Leeds-based events company Rolling Social, this year marks Rum Fest's fifth anniversary - which means they are pulling out all the stops.
Expect hundreds of rum expressions, professional masterclasses, cocktail-making classes, a bottle shop, live music and entertainment – all centered around bringing the Carnival vibe to Leeds.
With appearances from fifteen of the very best rum brands, from Plantation to El Dorado, The Duppy Share and Diablesse, there's a whole host of exciting rum brands taking part - joined by mixer sponsor The London Essence.
Whether you’re a rum aficionado or simply partial to a quality cocktail, this sounds like a great day out with loads of different rum drinks to sample throughout.
Image: Leeds rum festival
For £30, your ticket will include entry to the festival and a range of different rum samples, plus workshops and entertainment.
Elsewhere, there'll be a top-quality cocktail bar in action to continue your rum education and a whole host of street food traders to help you line your stomach with some of Leeds' tastiest scrans.
Leeds-based events company, Rolling Social, has been bringing digital celebrations of food and drink to the city throughout lockdown – and now, as the world comes back to life, the fun is set to continue with the hotly anticipated Rum Fest on Saturday 9 October.
Image: Leeds Rum Festival
Whether you’re a rum aficionado or simply partial to a quality cocktail, this spirit spectacular – set in Leeds’ historic Corn Exchange – might just be the ideal day out for you.
Lee Jones, Creative Director Rolling Social Events, said:
“After the success of our digital rum festivals, we’re incredibly excited to be back at our home in the Corn Exchange for what will be our fifth birthday.
"This event will be the perfect chance to welcome back old friends and embrace some new ones. We’ve got a whole host of exciting brands lined up, and we’re excited to be announcing some of the headliners today.
"Our main sponsors are The Duppy Share, Diplomatico and The London Essence are main sponsors, and they’ll be joined by Hampden Estate, Nusa Cana and loads more to come!”
The foodie-favourite restaurant and bar is now under new management.
The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that Woodside has sadly been closed for a few months.
We certainly have, and ever since December we've had a Woodside Sunday roast-shaped hole in our hearts that's been gasping for one of their glorious Marmite glazed parsnips.
But luckily, it has now been confirmed that Woodside isn't going anywhere as Superfriendz, the team behind Headrow House, Belgrave and many other top Leeds spots will be taking over. Hallelujah.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Woodside opened at the end of 2024 from the owners of The Brunswick and The Melbourne.
Labelling itself as a 'neighbourhood eatery and bar', Woodside quickly became a favourite amongst Leeds foodies and was known for its smoked meats, great cocktails and stellar Sunday roasts (do I need to talk about the parsnips again).
The menu was fresh and innovative, with oysters topped with kiwi granita and an incredibly garish banana split standing out as highlights.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
We hope that the new management continues to maintain Woodside's brilliance, but mainly we're just so glad that it's sticking around.
Superfriendz take care of a whole host of spots in the city, including proper Leeds favourites Headrow House, Belgrave Music Hall and Waterlane Boathouse.
Announcing the news to Instagram, Woodside said: "After a longer-than-expected winter break, Woodside is back and will reopen on Thursday 19th March!
"Your favourite neighbourhood bar and eatery returns with the same warm welcome, but an all new management team.
"We can’t wait to see you so keep your eyes on our socials for news on great food and drinks, big screen sports, quizzes and more.
"We’d also like to thank Sam and the original team for all the hard work that went into setting-up the venue. We hope we can do it justice."
Horsforth Brewery to takeover and save beloved Ilkley tap house
Clementine Hall
A renowned brewery have announced that they will be taking over the reigns of a popular craft beer bottle shop in Ilkley.
Fuggle & Golding opened in 2015 on Leeds road in Ilkley and quickly grew a loyal following with locals and visitors alike.
Sadly they announced last month that their last day of trading would be Saturday 28 February, news which was met with huge disappointment.
However this is no longer the case, as Horsforth Brewery is set to reopen the venue on Wednesday. Hooray!
Announcing the welcomed news to Instagram, Horsforth Brewery wrote: "When we saw they were going to close we were determined to not lose another great venue from the local beer scene.
"We owe a massive thank you to George and the landlord for getting a deal across the line in quick order.
"We’re going to take a few days to put our stamp on the place and then we will be open on Wednesday!"
"Obviously we will be stocking our beers here but as anyone who knows will know, we love the beer scene so we will continue to have a good amount of guest beer on as well. We’ll even been joining in with the biggest beer launches from around the country.
"Want to know the best news? We’re doing this solo. No outside interests, no investors, no debt. In the current climate being able to organically grow like this is so so hard and it’s thanks to all our team that we’ve been able to do this.
"We’ve always been determined to grow our business in a healthy and sustainable way; it may have (absolutely has) been tough over the years but we’ve got ourselves in a position to take us to the next level in a sustainable way."
Georgina Pellant -
3rd September 2021 
