7 International Festivals You Can Enjoy in Leeds

One of the main reasons people decide to travel to a city is for the events and festivals that take place on a particular date. There are plenty of events happening in the UK year by year. For instance, Spring of 2020 saw a number of events at Hertford Castle, and February of the same year was full of concerts being held in London. As one of the largest cities in the UK, Leeds has always been a centre for major festivals. Here are some international festivals that take place every year in Leeds.

 

Leeds International Film Festival

LIFF has been an annual event since 1987 and is held in a number of venues around Leeds during November. The festival is held every year, with thousands of attendees and hundreds of feature films and short films being shown.

The festival features five program sections:

1.     Official Selection is for screening of the most praised films of the year that have also been successful in other international festivals such as Cannes and Berlin.
2.     Retrospective section hosts inspiring films from the past. This section includes nostalgic films that were highly celebrated as well as those which were lost in total oblivion.
3.     Cinema Versa section is for screening documentary filmmaking. The platform welcomes human rights films too and special events like live performances and debates are also featured.
4.     Fanomenon is dedicated to genre filmmaking including cult subjects as well as sci-fi and fantasy. It also features special events like film marathons and Q&A sessions. It is the host of the Night of the Dead event which is a full night of horror films at the display.
5.     Short Film City is for short film competitions like Music Video awards and Leeds Short Film Audio Awards.

 

Leeds Pride

Leeds Pride is an annual LGBT pride event first inaugurated in 2006. It is mostly an outdoor event consisting of a parade that starts in Millennium Square and finishes in the shopping street of Lower Briggate.

As the event is supported by the City Council, those who join the parade will have access to all kinds of facilities nearby both in Millennium Square and Lower Briggate.

Before and on the day of the parade, several inclusive events take place. Some of these events, which were held before, are:

•         LGBT+ Sport Fringe Festival: an inclusive festival for sporting activities
•         Live Well Leeds Rainbow Workshop, providing a variety of craft activities for those who may find the city centre too busy to join the parade.
•         Bisexuality is Magic! a comedy drag magic show, with vegan and vegetarian refreshments.

 

Leeds West Indian Carnival

Started in 1967, West Indian Carnival is an event that celebrates the emancipation of the West Indies through dance and music. The event happens on Bank Holiday Monday in August and involves a parade as well as workshops and masterclasses.

The parade starts at Potternewton Park and after taking a route through Roundhay Road and Chapeltown Road, it returns back to Potternewton Park. The event has regularly attracted up to 150,000 people, and one time in 2017 - the anniversary of the festival – the number even reached as high as 250,000.

In this celebration, all the things associated with West Indian tradition are welcome. The participants can dance to the sound of Calypso and Soca, two prominent West Indian styles of music, and try Caribbean dishes like Jerk Chicken for their meal.

 

Light Night

UK’s largest arts-and-lights festival happens is Light Night Leeds during October, as part of a bigger Illuminate cultural festival. It includes musical and artistic performances, as well as spectacles that transform indoors and outdoors during the night.

With large-scale projections and street performance, it creates a breath-taking atmosphere on buildings inviting people to see the city in a new light. Some of the zones where the event takes place are:

•         Millennium Square zone, where the Civic Hall will be lit by an artificial bolt of lightning, and Leeds City Museum will be guarded by colourful neon dogs.
•         Town Hall zone, using Climate Clock counting down to zero-emission on Town Hall Forecourt.
•         Briggate zone, where Emergency Exit Arts presents the Hourglass, a piece of sculpture with project mapping displaying the history of existence in Holy Trinity Church.

 

Damnation Festival

Damnation Festival is an annual musical event that is currently held at Leeds University Union. It is a heavy metal music festival inaugurated first in Manchester in 2005, and since 2008, Leeds has been the main venue.

Voted as the ‘Best UK Festival’ by Terrorizer magazine, this festival features amazing performances by underground musicians and welcomes thousands of attendees at a very low-price ticket. Over the years it has welcomed performances by bands such as Opeth, a Swedish rock band, or Vader, a Polish death metal band.

 

Reading and Leeds Festivals

This music festival which takes place at both Reading and Leeds has been ongoing since the 1960s. However, the first one to be held in Leeds was in 1999 and the main venue was Temple Newsam (link). The festival welcomes musical acts by the likes of The Charlatans, Blur, Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The year 2020 event was cancelled due to the pandemic. However, for the next year, the festival happened with performances by Liam Gallagher, Stormzy, and many others.

For those coming from a distance, the festival has made campsites available with all the necessary facilities including toilets and showers. There are campervans and caravans too, which require purchasing a ticket. The festival welcomes all ages although the under-15s must be accompanied by an older ticket holder.

 

Leeds Lieder

For people interested in classical music, Leeds Lieder provides some of the most amazing events. It is aimed at sustaining the tradition of songwriting through the introduction of impressive art songs to a wider audience.

At each event, the participants will be able to hear some of the finest art-song interpreters,  and a solo voice and piano performance. Each festival also provides a public masterclass for a new generation of young artists and student singers to get advice from experienced singers. They will be able to take part in Composers + Poets’ forums to use the experience of experts and find more opportunities.

The festival is mostly held in the University of Leeds, in partnership with Leeds College of Music, and it has had the chance to see performances by the likes of Nicky Spence tenor Joseph Middleton on the piano.

Where to Stay

After participating in the festival of your choice, you can choose an apartment to stay in by choosing Burley Park Suite. This modern and convenient apartment is just a few minutes from the city centre and has all the amenities provided.