An outdoor cinema pop-up is making its way back to Leeds city centre this year for some summer dates, screening cult classics.
Cinema on the Square has become a favourite in our calendar now, partly due to the fact they play some of the best and most iconic films of all time - and this year is no exception.
Year in and year out, this outdoor cinema pop-up knows how to captivate its audiences, with last year’s bill featuring the likes of Barbie, Wonka, and Moulin Rouge.
Now, Cinema on the Square is back with a stacked roster of films that are instant crowd-pleasers.
Of course, Cinema on the Square had to screen Miffy’s Adventures Big and Small, especially since the cute bunny and all her friends have taken over Leeds City Museum.
Another film which is set to guarantee a large crowd is pop culture phenomenon Wicked, and it’s not just any old screening of this movie musical - it’s a sing-along.
If that’s not enough singing for you, how about chanting all the words to ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ too? That’s right, Disney’s animated musical Encanto is also playing this summer.
An outdoor summer cinema is returning to Millennium Square in Leeds city centre this summer
The 80s is often cited as the best decade for music, and now you have a chance to relive your youth, or experience it for the first time, with Desperately Seeking Susan starring Madonna.
Or why not broaden your knowledge on mountaineering through gripping docudrama Touching The Void, which follows an incredible and captivating survival story.
There’s more than 15 different films playing out across Millennium Square from Thursday 31 July to Sunday 3 August.
Cinema on the Square is taking place right here in Leeds city centre and anyone after tickets to one of the screenings or more can find all the information HERE.
The time has come, Light Night Leeds is about to transform the city into a dazzling array of illuminated artworks.
And this year, for the first time in its history, the beloved, free light trail will take place during half term, making it more accessible than ever to families across West Yorkshire.
The streets will be filled with projections, immersive artworks, and light installations across two nights - Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October 2026.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Happily, that also means it will fall a week after the clocks have gone back, which means the full programme can benefit from the darker evenings and begin from 6pm.
So, if you're heading to Light Night - here's everything you need to know.
Theme
The theme for this year's Light Night will be centred around tales of the city's past and future.
With the theme 'A City Speaks…', this year's trail will form part of Leeds 400, marking 400 years since Leeds was granted its first Royal Charter by King Charles I.
Contemporary art installations like performances and projections across city landmarks will explore the stories, people and places that have shaped Leeds over the past four centuries.
Familiar streets and buildings will be totally transformed for two very special evenings, with more than 40 artworks to discover.
Areas
The stunning light installations will span across eight zones around the city.
These locations are:
Millennium Square
Briggate
Leeds train station
SOYO near Quarry Hill
Wellington Place
South Bank (Aire Park)
University of Leeds
Stourton park-and-ride sites
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Highlights
There's plenty to see at Light Night... and we mean plenty.
So we've handpicked five instillations that you don't want to miss.
Far, Far Away
Briggate
'Follow a trail of light along Briggate and step into an enchanting fairy-tale adventure inspired by the British Library’s collections. Classic stories by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen meet ideas imagined by Leeds schoolchildren, brought vividly to life at an extraordinary scale.'
Call My Name, Call Me Home
Queen's Hotel, Station Zone
'A figure arrives by train to begin a new life in Leeds. Over six minutes, the façade of The Queens Hotel transforms as five decades of memories unfold across roads, streets, bars, hospitals and homes. Buildings appear and disappear, mapping one person’s journey onto the changing landscape of the city'
Butterflies
The Tetley, Aire park
'Look out for four enormous butterflies roaming freely through Aire Park. Lit from within by glowing LEDs, these spectacular puppets float, turn and dance among the crowds to their own musical soundtrack.'
Leeds Bridge 1880/2026
The Light, The Headrow
'See Leeds Bridge shift between past and present in Emily Allchurch’s contemporary response to a painting by Atkinson Grimshaw. His atmospheric 1880 view of the Victorian cast iron crossing, held by Leeds Art Gallery, slowly dissolves into a digital photographic collage of the same scene today.'
Foster 4 Leeds Neons
Cookridge Street
'Look up to discover children’s drawings glowing above Cookridge Street. Each neon artwork began as an image created by a child in care, capturing something they enjoy doing with their foster carer.'
Travel
To help you get there and back safely, there will be park-and-ride facilities at Elland Road and Stourton to accommodate visitors to and from the event, with buses running until later than normal every 15 minutes from both to the city centre at peak times.
There will also be additional buses running throughout the event from these locations with the last bus to Elland Road leaving Trinity P (Boar Lane) at 23:16 GMT and the last bus to Stourton leaving Trinity K (Lower Briggate) at 23:36.
Do I need a ticket?
Nope! Entrance and all the instillations are completely free.
Though the council have warned visitors that there may be some queues for the busier attractions.
You can find out more about Light Night and read about all the instillations here.
Read more: One of the UK’s cult-favourite burger chains is coming to Leeds city centre
Featured image - The Hoot Leeds
Things To Do
Close Enough to Touch – Secrets lie within ourselves and toilet cubicles
Declan Kelly
Public toilets are not where most people go looking for a life-changing theatrical experience. Usually, the aim is to get in, get out and avoid eye contact. Yet in Close Enough to Touch, playwright Henry Roberts transforms this unglamorous setting into the backdrop for a story about sex, secrecy and the search for self-understanding.
At Leeds Playhouse, this one-person production follows M, played by Stefan Race, a young man whose life is far from straightforward. Unemployed and struggling in his relationship with his girlfriend, Isla, he begins exploring anonymous sexual encounters in public toilets. What follows is an exploration of desire, shame and the difficult distinction between the person we present to the world and the person we keep hidden.
A play about anonymous sex might easily rely on its subject matter to provoke controversy. Fortunately, Roberts is interested in more than shock value. He explores how intimacy can exist without commitment, how desire becomes entangled with shame, and whether we can truly understand ourselves while concealing parts of our identity.
Race carries the production alone. Without an ensemble to share the burden, the performance depends on physicality, expression and vocal variation to bring M’s experiences to life. This stripped-back approach draws the audience into his private thoughts, offering a glimpse into a world many might otherwise never encounter. From physicality to emotional drive, Race is a powerhouse when it comes to taking the audience on an emotional and yet thought-provoking journey. Grabbing the audience with laughter and vulnerability throughout this 70 min story.
Staged in Leeds Playhouse’s Bramall Rock Void, the production uses a bus shelter and a red bench to establish its setting. A screen above the shelter displays the script, providing audiences with an additional way to follow the dialogue. This thoughtful accessibility feature allows audience members to read alongside the live performance, helping to make the production more inclusive without disrupting its flow.
The minimal set keeps the focus on M rather than overwhelming the story with spectacle. However, building a drama around a single perspective presents its own challenges. Although the subject offers plenty to consider, there are moments when the ideas feel more compelling than the dramatic momentum carrying them. Challenging themes alone cannot guarantee compelling theatre, and greater variation might have allowed the narrative more room to breathe.
Close Enough to Touch is at its strongest when it looks beyond the provocative nature of its subject to the vulnerability beneath it. Race’s performance and Roberts’ willingness to explore an often-overlooked experience give the production something meaningful to say.
Perhaps the real discomfort lies neither in the setting nor in the sex, but in the possibility that the parts of ourselves we conceal most carefully are often the parts we most need to understand.
Running throughout the rest of October through to November you can catch this production in and around Yorkshire. Tickets available HERE.
Thomas Melia -
19th June 2025 
