The Lunar New Year is just a few short days away- how are you planning to celebrate the Year of the Tiger?
Tuesday 1 February is a date you'll want to have marked in your calendar, regardless of whether you're celebraing the Lunar New Year or not. Also know as the Chinese New Year, the date marks the first day of the the year in the lunar calendar, and as such is a time to celebrate.
Typically, there's a full 16 days of activities to get involved in to 'attract fortune and happiness' for the new year. Leeds, as always, is bringing the best of the new year in with hearty menus, killer cocktails and a whole range of dining options made especially to help you celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Here's our top picks for foodie nights out to enjoy during the Lunar New Year.
Nam Song is bringing in the Lunar New Year with a celebration that puts their customers at the heart of it all. Tết is the Vietnamese Celebration of the New Lunar Year and at this time red envelopes filled with money are given to children to bring good luck, health and prosperity, so Nam Song is giving away over 1,000 red envelopes with prizes inside like free bánh mì and coffee for a whole year, your entire bill for free, money off your next visit or even a free drink. If you ever needed a reason to visit, this is certainly a compelling one.
Monday 31 January - Saturday 6 January. Find out more here.
North Brew Co
Image: The Hoot Leeds
There's events aplenty brewing over at both North Brew venues this year and their Chinese New Year menu is just one of the innovative one-off menus we're excited for. Keeping everything under wraps until the event itself, North Brew Co will be providing Chinese-inspired cocktails, whilst Little Bao Boys will be serving up some specials for the occasion too. To get your hands on the menu, along with a fortune cookie or two, you can visit either their North Brew Taps or Springwell venues.
Friday 4 February - Saturday 5 February. Find out more here.
Celebrating Chinese New Year with traditional cuisine is our favourite hidden Chinese restaurant, Mans Market. Tucked away in the city centre, their authentic menu has always got us wanting more and no doubt their new year menu will be just the same. Expect Cantonese-style spring rolls, citrus sweet and sticky chicken, hot bean tofu, traditional Chinese curry Can Be Ve and a sweet dessert for vanilla nian gao pot. Need any more of a reason to visit? You can get a starter and main course for £22, with a dessert for just an extra fiver.
Friday 4 February - Sunday 6 February. Find out more here.
The Little Yellow Rice Co. will be taking over the Eat Your Greens kitchen to bring a Lunar New Year feast. Served across four courses, the set menu has been curated around classic Nyonya cuisine and bringing Penang flavours to Leeds. Expect Peranakan favourites like Jiu hu Char, stir-fried yam bean with cuttlefish and dried fish; Assam Prawn, Tamarind prawns cooked in a sweet and sour caramelised sauce; Curry Kapitan, a chicken curry with lemongrass, lime leaf, galangal, coconut milk and shrimp paste, as well as vegan specials like Pengat Pisang, banana and kueh in sweet creamy coconut and pandan sauce.
Tattu have ten days of new year celebrations waiting for you, with the inclusion of a unique Year of the Tiger dessert and Red Envelope Gift Cocktail on offer. The sparkling orange-red concoction is topped with a creamy foam, a macaroon with a tiger stamped on top, representing the new year that we will fall into, the Year of the Tiger and a Hong Bao envelope. Guests are invited to open the envelopes in search of a golden ticket with vouchers inside.
Tuesday 1 February - Thursday 10 February. Find out more here.
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 -
27th January 2022 
