Summer is well underway and Leeds is overflowing with exciting things to do this August.
How is everyone’s summer going then?
Yes, the summer may have got off to a rather grey start (understatement of the century), but the city’s event calendar for the month is enough to brighten even the drizzliest of days.
August is always a big month for Leeds, with Leeds Festival gearing up to takeover Bramham Park at the end of the month for a weekend of incredible live music.
Keep reading to find out what you can get up to this August…
Yard Act Takeover
Saturday 3 August | Northern Market
Image: Supplied
Yard Act are teaming up with The Northern Market this Saturday 3 August on the day of their massive Millennium Square show.
Situated just 100 yards from the concert venue, Yard Act have curated a personalised day of pop-ups, food collabs and more for a celebration of some of their favourite things in the city, all hosted inside the Northern Monk run venue.
Get ready for a summer adventure like no other as the streets of Leeds come alive with the world’s first city-wide MONOPOLY experience.
Players can roll the dice, get out of jail free and pass go, with key sections of the city colour-coded into zones, and find a series of visual, mathematical and word puzzles to solve in a bid to buy back the city – designed for the whole family to get involved in.
And the whole event is completely free.
Leeds African and Caribbean Food Festival
Saturday 24 August | Kirkgate Market
Get ready for a culinary adventure as the African and Caribbean Food Festival makes a triumphant return. So, be prepared to tantalize your taste buds and experience a culinary & colourful explosion of African and Caribbean Food and drinks.
One of the biggest festivals in the UK will of course be taking place at Bramham Park over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
The star-studded lineup includes Liam Gallagher, Lana Del Rey, Fred Again and so many more amazing acts. It’s set to be an incredible weekend that will pull in music fans from across the country.
Leeds West Indian Carnival
Monday 26 August | Chapeltown and Harehills
Image: Leeds West Indian Carnival
Held annually on the last Monday in August, every year the anticipation for this stunning display of colour and sheer joy that parades through the streets of Leeds presents itself in a celebration that represents the very best of carnival culture.
An explosion of culture will be paraded through Chapeltown and Harehills on the Monday and a live music concert will take place on the Sunday in Potternewton Park.
Open Air Cinema
Throughout August | Kirkstall Abbey
Grab a blanket and your favourite snacks, ‘cause Millennium Square is transforming into an open-air cinema this month. From classics like "Grease" to modern hits like "Bohemian Rhapsody", there’s something for everyone. Perfect for a date night or a chilled evening with mates.
Feature
The Yorkshire artist who’s put together the official FIFA World Cup scarf collection
A Yorkshire-born and bred artist and his creative team have earned the huge honour of creating the official FIFA scarf collection for this year's World Cup.
Nothing short of massive for anyone from our part of the world.
The local legend in question is Tom Pitts, who was born in Sheffield and is now based just beyond Leeds, leading the campaign right from the helm.
Hand Drawn Pixels is a graphic design and digital studio based in Otley, and while you'll see plenty of folks wearing football shirts and even the odd scarf on the town's famous pub crawl, these lot are venturing on an entirely different kind of run this summer.
In fact, the work has very much already started, with Tom and co. collaborating directly with FIFA and US manufacturers, Global Scarves, to create the World Cup collection.
With this year's tournament obviously taking place across America, Mexico and Canada, they've joined up with a big LLC, but they describe themselves as "a true English custom scarf company with American parents."
In their words, "We knit scarves for clients all over the world", with a presence both near Leeds and over in Seattle, Washington.
The fixtures themselves kick off next month (England's first game coming against Croatia on 17 June), and so Hand Drawn Pixels have been hard at work meeting the briefs for each of the nations taking part.
Here's a quick breakdown of how the opportunity came about, their vision for the project, and how everything starts for them as a whole process.
You can see more of their work HERE, but as the brand name would suggest, it's pretty simple to begin with: nothing more than a pencil.
It's worth noting that the 2026 World Cup also featured the largest number of teams in the competition's history: 48 qualified national squads, to be exact. So, technically, they've had even more designing to do than they theoretically would have in any of the previous years, too.
Tom confessed that winning this bid is obviously a big deal on its own and that seeing his creations being worn in person by supporters at the stadiums will be a "surreal" experience.
Speaking exclusively with The Hoot, he said: "It’s been an amazing creative challenge for us to truly reflect the individuality and diversity of the nations competing in this prestigious tournament on such an iconic product as the football scarf."
He went on to add that "the whole project has been a huge learning experience, gaining deeper cultural insight into every nation involved."
We can't wait to cast eyes upon a sea of colour and finely crafted fabric in unique but somehow universally familiar patterns, all designed right here in 'God's Own Country'.
The Sheffield institution serving the city’s favourite sandwich for over 60 years
Clementine Hall
Of course, it's the one and only Béres.
It all started back in 1961 when Hungarian butcher Sandor Béres left his home city of Budapest during the 1956 uprising against the Stalinist government.
After the government took control of his father's butchers shops, Sandor set out to establish the chain once more and so, Béres was born.
And thank god it was, as for over 60 years now their iconic pork sandwich has been fuelling the hungry people of Sheffield, and we'd go as far to say it's one of the best sarnies in the city.
Images: The Sheff
Hot roast pork, herby stuffing, crispy crackling and fruity apple sauce all crammed into a soft bap - it really doesn’t get much better than that.
But, what makes it so special? Béres claims it's all in the preparation and quality control.
Being a traditional butchers, their pork joints are traditionally roasted and cured in house to give that succulent texture and crispy crackling every single time.
They use around seven tonnes of pork and four tonnes of flour per week to feed us hungry lot, and it's no surprise when you see the queues forming outside your local Béres every lunch time.
Images: The Sheff
The very first shop was born at Wadsley Bridge where they quickly built a reputation for their sandwiches, this then allowed them to become a proper Sheffield household name after expanding rapidly through the 2000s.
They now have 14 sites across Sheffield, and each site is as good as the next. Not only are the pork sandwiches class but if you're ever faced with a hangover no matter how severe, their stacked breakfast baps are always there to save the day.
But why we love Béres most of all is the lovely staff who are always there to offer a smile and a chinwag, but what else do you expect from the people of Sheffield hey?
Clementine Hall -
1st August 2024 
