There's going to be beer, live music and a celebration of local community at a new festival near Leeds.
In the first restriction-free month since the pandemic began, Sup is bringing West Yorkshire communities together once more with a local festival focusing on beer, food and music.
The beer festival will take place over two weekends, one in Shipley and the other in Bingley and forms part of the 'Spring Back' campaign from Bradford City Council.
On Saturday 12 March, Shipley Market Square will be transformed into a foodie fest, with fan-favourite vendors present, including SALT Beer Factory's award-winning beers and brews from The Triangle, Cap and Collar and The Fox.
Lowery breweries are preparing for the festival. / Image: Salt Beer Factory
Hullabaloo, a Caribbean street food and drink specialist will be on hand to serve up fresh supplies and a collab pop-up of Il Pirata and Mozza Fella will provide that we're told is the best pizza team-up Bradford has ever seen, with a range of succulent slices to put those carb cravings to bed.
The Bingley event will host a similar set-up with a slight variation to their line-up on Saturday 19 March underneath a huge weatherproof tent. Il Pirata X Mozza Fella and The Triangle will join the Bingley fest, whilst a new selection of cask ales and alcoholic drinks will come from Wishbone Brewery, Goose Eye Brewery and Bini Brewery.
The Peacock provide freshly-cooked Indian street food to the masses.
Il Pirata X Mozza Fella is going to be an incredible collaboration. / Image: Il Pirata
Organiser Sup has partnered with an array of local DJs across both events who will be playing a mix of upbeat and soulful tunes to keep the crowds going into the evening.
Eddie Kean, Director of Raven Staging, said “I moved to Bradford when I was 9yrs old and my kids go to school in both Shipley and Bingley, so I’m especially excited to stage these events in my home valley and for my own community.
"The focus for these events is to kickstart the year and drive footfall to our high streets by providing a platform to our local community of creators and entrepreneurs. Selecting our partners has been made that much easier by the world class quality of what’s on offer within the Bradford postcode.
Image: Bingley Walkers
"My hope is that the range of exceptional partners at these events will generate an equally great turnout from our local community. If Sup can provide a small celebratory salve for the difficulty we’ve all endured over the past few years, I’ll be a happy man. I look forward to raising a glass to us.”
Yard Act are back as they announce first round of UK headline dates since 2024.
We are so, so back.
It's been a few years, but Yard Act have just announced a small selection of UK gigs for later in the year including a homecoming gig at the O2 Academy on Friday 6 November.
The dates follow the band’s first show of the year at the 6Music Festival this Friday across The Pennines in Manchester.
After Leeds, the lads will be performing shows at the O2 Victoria Warehouse on Friday 13 November before making their way down south to the O2 Academy in Brixton on Thursday 26 November.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Yard Act completed the touring for their critically acclaimed second album Where’s My Utopia? with a victory lap back home at the 5000 capacity Millennium Square in Leeds in August 2024.
It was a record that brought a stark change of pace to the acerbic, post-punk of their debut, embracing something altogether more playful and bringing a different energy. It shifted the dynamic on stage too, with the addition of dancing backing singers and additional musicians and openly challenged listeners to reconsider who they thought Yard Act were.
Since then, the band have remained active, whether writing Where’s My Utopia’s follow-up on scratching the itch to get back on stage, heading out across the UK and Europe with The Hives, which was preceded by an intimate one-off show at Blackpool Tower last May.
Following a lengthy stint in the studio, the band now look to the Autumn for three big UK dates and we cannot wait.
Tickets go on artist presale from 10am on Wednesday 25 March before hitting general sale at 10am on Friday 27 March. Sign up here.
Estimated to be worth around £45 million, the Grade II-listed structure renovations won't begin for a little while just yet, but it is set to increase the capacity of the space by more than 50%.
Announced on Tuesday, 24 March, the major refurb will be partly funded by public money and topped up by the private sector and "philanthropic partners".
The UK government and Sheffield City Council will be pumping in approximately £35m, with a further £10m being added through the investment mentioned above.
Soon to allow the theatre to scale up or down in size, the hope is that the new 'in the round' format will enable the Crucible to serve its arts and sporting audiences for decades to come, as well as opening the big Northern stage up to new opportunities.
Due to start in the summer of 2028, it's still unclear as to the exact completion date, but the plans are in support of confirmation that the annual snooker tournament will stay put.
A fresh agreement with the WSC will see them stay in Sheff until at least 2045, with the Crucible's number of seats set to jump from just under 1,000 to 1,480.
It's also said there is an option in the deal to extend the contract until 2050, and as one of the biggest competitive events that comes to the city year in and year out, you would expect them to push hard for the Council and partners to push hard for this, too.
Credit: Bread and Butter PR (supplied)
Dan Walker, Chair of Sheffield Theatres Trust, said in a statement: "The Crucible is a wonderful theatre with a brilliant reputation, and the positive impact of this investment will be seen for years to come.
"As a proud resident of Sheffield, I know the importance of snooker to our city, but this isn’t only good news for Sheffield: this is amazing news for the north of England and the whole of the UK."
If all goes to plan, the overhaul should take around 18 months, with productions being hosted in the Lyceium and the newest room, the Montgomery.
All the while, the Sheffield Theatres will continue to present new work both domestically and around the globe over this period, with more details coming this autumn 2026.
Sophie Smith -
3rd March 2022 
