The festival returns to Bramham Park in Leeds on August Bank Holiday weekend and here's everything you need to know.
One of the UK's biggest festivals is back this month and is promised to be bigger and better than ever.
The event is expected to see around 100,000 people attend on the August bank holiday weekend from Friday, August 26 to Sunday, August 28 2022.
Returning after a heartbreaking Covid-enforced hiatus, this year there will be two main stages, instead of the usual one, to stop any clashing of the anticipated headline acts.
In total there will be 7 stages at the festival this year as well as 6 headline acts performing, rather than the usual three.
The lineup includes Yorkshire favourites, Arctic Monkeys. The indie icons have been slowly announcing their European tour dates over the past few weeks and have even rumoured that their new album will be released in the new year. This will be the third time that the band have headlined Reading and Leeds Festival.
Image: Arctic Monkeys
The Sheffield-based band will close the festival on Sunday 28 August, but there are plenty of big names to listen to throughout the festival.
Although the set times are yet to be announced, here's a rundown of who's performing on each stage throughout the weekend.
US pop star Conan Gray and BRIT award winner Jacob Alon join the line-up for Lewis Capaldi's headline date at Roundhay Festival.
Leeds' Roundhay Park is welcoming back live music to its grounds this summer for two outdoor gigs headlined by Lewis Capaldi and Pitbull titled Roundhay Festival, with special guests slowly being announced.
Gray is recognised for standout tracks like 'Heather' and 'Maniac' while Alon has built a cult following of fans around their indie tunes like 'Fairy in a Bottle' as well as 'Liquid Gold 25'.
Jacob Alon has been showing off their artistry within the indie music scene thanks to their 2025 LP In Limerence catching the attention of many in the process.
This album has gone onto attract widespread love from music listeners and even industry professionals bagging themselves their first-ever BRIT award nomination and win - The Critics' Choice award.
Conan Gray AND Jacob Alon join Lewis Capaldi's Roundhay Festival line-up / Credit: Supplied via Press Shots
Conan Gray started out covering other artists hits before creating some of his own and releasing debut studio album Kid Krow back in 2020.
The project has production credits shared between Gray and Dan Nigro, Grammy-winning producer who has worked with Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde and more.
It's always exciting hearing updates like these, but this one is even more impressive as it's not just one stellar act joining the Roundhay Festival line-up but two, with further acts to be announced.
The almost 70,000 crowd who are heading down to Roundhay Festival when Lewis Capaldi makes his way to Leeds next summer are going to be blessed with some phenomenal live music.
This year marks American Express Presents Roundhay Festival first year with two star-studded dates fronted by powerhouse performers with the second show fronted by Pitbull and special guest Kesha.
These events have been organised with Leeds City Council and are expected to bring benefits to the local area by employing local suppliers, staff and boost spending on accommodation, food and entertainment.
Conan Gray and Jacob Alon will play alongside Lewis Capaldi at Roundhay Festival in Leeds on Saturday 4 July 2026 with tickets available HERE.
Headlong Theatre casts a dark spell on a Shakespearian comedy at Leeds Playhouse
Declan Kelly
Winter replaces summer in this unsettling Midsummer Night.
A night of dark magic swarmed Leeds Playhouse last night as Headlong Theatre and Shakespeare’s Globe brought a strikingly dark reimagining of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, transforming Shakespeare’s most effervescent comedy into something far more psychologically raw.
For those who don’t know who Headlong Theatre Company are, they are known for their bold reimaginings of classics and for commissioning powerful contemporary plays that provoke fresh ways of seeing familiar texts, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream was their next task, directed by Holly Race Roughan.
Gone was the warmth and floral abundance traditionally associated with the play, a play which is fixated on fairies and magic and all things whimsical. Instead, this production unfolded in a stark, wintry landscape.
Image: Supplied
The eerie white setting with pale tones and biting chill created an atmosphere that felt closer to a nightmare than a fantasy. From the outset, there was a sense that this dream would not offer escapism but confrontation.
In this production, the quartet of lovers Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena played by Tiwa Lade, David Olaniregun, Lou Jackson and Tara Tijani, rendered a complex love story not as the bright, mischievous romantics of summer light, but as figures caught in a corrosive and bruising emotional spiral.
Image: Supplied
The love potion, rather than a whimsical device, became a symbol of manipulation and control.
Whilst the show did have its comedic parts throughout, laughter was present but not like we’d expect a Shakespearean comedy to be. A standout performance throughout was Danny Kirrane’s portrayal of Bottom. Rather than serving solely as comic relief, Kirrane emerged as unexpectedly poignant.
The play-within-a-play still delivered moments of levity, but even here the humour seemed edged with fragility, as though the comedy might fracture at any moment.
Sergo Vares gives a strikingly original and unforgettable portrayal of Puck, transforming Shakespeare’s playful trickster into a darker, more unsettling figure. Ditching the usual impish charm, Vares appears in a peculiar combination of tutu and dinner jacket, his face painted white and movements measured and haunting, commanding the stage with an eerie intensity.
Image: Supplied
Small, seemingly inconsequential actions, like silently eating a banana, become disquieting, while his prowling presence turns mischief into something deliberate and menacing. Surprising entrances and exits keep both characters and audience on edge, and his closing address to the audience carries a sharp, ironic bite that lingers long after the play’s ending.
What distinguished this production was its commitment to exposing the brutality that pulses beneath Shakespeare’s text. Love was presented not as a harmless folly but as a force capable of humiliation, control and harm. The final moments resisted the usual buoyant reconciliation; instead, the ending felt ambiguous, leaving the audience reflective rather than reassured. This was not a dream bathed in moonlight and romance as we would have expected.
The production took on a colder, more introspective tone, serving as a striking reminder that even Shakespeare’s lightest comedies contain threads of darkness. Whether audiences find this approach exhilarating or simply a departure from the familiar, it is undeniably thought-provoking, prompting reflection on what kind of “dream” they have truly witnessed.
Overall, reimagining Shakespearean texts like this is an exciting venture, offering fresh opportunities to explore themes that might otherwise remain hidden and Roughan accomplishes this with remarkable ease and insight.
Headlong Theatre Company’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is on at Leeds Playhouse until 28 February 2026 and you can get your tickets here.
Clementine Hall -
10th August 2022 
