The 2023 Tramlines Festival line-up has just dropped, with some absolutely massive names headlining Sheffield's biggest party.
The likes of Richard Ashcroft, Courteeners, and Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott will all perform on the The Sarah Nulty main stage, as Tramlines marks its 15th edition.
The three-day festival will be back at Hillsborough Park in Sheffield between 21 and 23 July this year.
Also on the bill for this summer are Blossoms, DMA's (who missed their headline slot when 2020's festival was postponed), Kaiser Chiefs, Sugababes, Beabadoobee, Kate Nash, Katy B, Sea Girls, Pale Waves, and special guests The Enemy and The Zutons, with loads more announced this evening.
On the comedy side of things, famous faces including Omid Djalili, Jonathan Pie, Paul Smith, Tom Wrigglesworth, John Hastings, Nina Gilligan, Tamer Kattan, Scott Bennett, Raul Kohli, and many more, will be taking to the Tramlines stage.
Credit: Tramlines 2022 + Lindsay Melbourne
40,000 music lovers and families will pile into Hillsborough Park each day of Tramlines 2023, ready for a weekend of music, art, comedy and performance across five stages, plus a family friendly area packed with things to do, festival food, bespoke craft beer and ale, vintage clothes stores, and roaming entertainment.
The Friday night will be headlined by Richard Ashcroft, with Courteeners taking the main spot on Saturday as part of their monumental year, which saw the band's debut album reach number one 15 years after its initial release.
The infallible duo of Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott will close Tramlines 2023 on the Sunday evening.
Credit: Tramlines 2022 + CFaruolo
The diverse festival brings together artists from the worlds of rock, pop, indie and alternative, with big-name bands and up-and-coming musicians rubbing shoulders on the same bill.
Since 2009, Tramlines has been proud to offer a platform to breaking and emerging talent, this year backing breakthrough acts like Stone, The Moly Wallopers, Primaqueen, Jetski, Franz Von, Amaroun, Deadletter, Lizzie Esau, Rumbi Tauro, and Deuxe.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Tramlines without an injection of Sheffield’s finest, Reverend and The Makers, who’ll bring the crowd pleasers as well as teasers from the new album, plus a band who pull in one of the biggest crowds of the weekend for their hilarious spoof covers, The Everly Pregnant Brothers.
Tramlines announced some of his headliners by sending out miniature bottles of Henderson’s Relish with artist’s names on the labels.
General manager Matt Davies from the Sheffield-based company said: "The recipe for Henderson's Relish has been kept under lock and key for over 130 years. Normally, we're quite good with secrets, but we got a bit too excited about the line-up for this year's Tramlines. Sorry about that."
Credit: Tramlines 2022 + CFaruolo
On the launch of Tramlines 2023, operations director Timm Cleasby said: "This year’s lineup is a cracker with some awesome names and, as always, there’s more than just music with loads to do, see and get involved with.
"My personal must-sees this year are Kate Nash, Rachel Chinouriri, Rumbi Tauro, Sugababes, the funny Paul Smith, and Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott.
"To quote our much-missed friend Sarah, 'I Just want to have a massive party with all my friends'.
"The turns are booked, the party’s on and you’re all invited. It can’t come soon enough."
Only a handful of Weekend tickets are left for Tramlines 2023, with over 95% sold already.
Tickets will go back on sale on Friday 3 February at midday, priced at £140 (+ booking fee), and the first batch of day tickets from only £50 (+ booking fee).
Organisers of the Leeds Christmas Market have announced it will host two new bars for 2026.
Yes, we know it's only October...but is it too soon to be getting excited about Christmas? We think not.
The Leeds Christmas Markets are going to look a little bit different this year, as the owners of Thor's Tipi will be running the festivities at City Square for 2026.
Completely new for this year, the market on City Square will introduce two bars with different themes - a Scottish Highland Lodge and a Folie Ski Bar.
Image: Supplied
Firstly, the Highland Lodge will welcome visitors into a spacious tipi filled with snug seating, twinkling lights, roaring fires and plenty of tartan.
Designed to welcome large groups, the lodge will have space for 280 guests inside and a further 100 outside, whilst the drinks menu will feature Highland favourites including Scottish beers and ales, a selection of whisky and even Iron-Bru.
Over at the Folie Ski Bar on Quebec Street, expect a relaxed festive retreat with the feel of an alpine chalet, complete with rustic wood detailing, fairy lights, faux fur throws and roaring fires.
The bar can accommodate 180 guests inside and 50 outside, serving mulled wine, boozy hot chocolates, Kirkstall Brewery beers and a selection of low and no-alcohol drinks.
Image: Supplied
THORS’s director, Amanda Monaghan said: “We’re excited to bring two new bar experiences to Leeds Christmas market this year. Having hosted THOR’s tipi in the city for many years, we’ve had plenty of practice creating festive spaces and entertainment, so we know what customers love.
“We’ve listened to lots of feedback on what people would like to see at the market and we want to make sure we give visitors and residents of Leeds plenty of reasons to stay with us long after they’ve finished their shopping or a day at the office.
“The new venues have been created to cater for all ages and tastes and will be perfect for passing visitors, after work drinks or planned Christmas get-togethers. From the lively Scottish spirit of Highland Lodge to the cosy alpine atmosphere at Folie, there’s going to be a spot for everyone to settle in and enjoy drinks by the fire and plenty of festive fun.”
Beloved Leeds Malaysian cafe known for its authentic home cooking announces sudden closure
Clementine Hall
A much-loved independent restaurant in Leeds has announced it will be closing its doors.
Kuala Lumpur Cafe opened its doors in Headingley in 2019 by Bart and Hirman, who wanted to bring authentic Malaysian cooking to the city of Leeds.
Throughout the years, they'd built up a reputation for their beautiful curries and vibrant street food dishes, all of which were made using Hirman's family recipes.
So much so, that in 2024 they opened a kitchen inside White Cloth Hall in the city centre when the Grade II listed food hall first opened.
Their kitchen sadly closed a year later, but their Headingley restaurant remained open serving the students and locals with their famous beef rendang, nasi lemak and more.
Sadly, Kuala Lumpur Cafe have taken to social media to announce that they will be closing their doors for good as of this Saturday 17 October.
Their statement reads: "Thank you to all our customers and team that made Kuala Lumpur Cafe possible across the last few years. After a long consideration, we have decided that our last trading day will be Saturday 17 October.
"If you have a booking after this date, we'll be calling you over the next few days to try to move it to an earlier date before we close.
"It's been our pleasure to serve Malaysian food to the community. Best regards, KL Cafe."
Of course, in true Leeds fashion, local businesses and customers flocked to the comments to express their sadness and show their support.
One comment reads: "Such a shame. This was genuinely the best Malay food I had outside of Malaysia. Will be missed greatly", whilst another thanks the cafe for "all the delicious food over the years".
If you want to visit Kuala Lumpur Cafe one last time, then you have until this Saturday to do so. Go and wish them a proper farewell.
Daisy Jackson -
31st January 2023 
