Food, conversation, films and music bring the spirit of travel and exploration to Kino and the Howard Assembly Room in Leeds this summer with the first ever Staycation Festival. 

Millennium Square is set to host some of the most exciting acts in music this summer as it gears up for the highly anticipated Summer Series from 3 July to 4 August 2024. Bringing a vibrant festival atmosphere right to the heart of Leeds, the annual concert extravaganza returns this year with 13 nights of unmissable gigs.

Set against the majestic backdrop of Leeds Civic Hall, music aficionados will be treated to an eclectic combination of emerging artists and globally renowned icons.

A new photography project from Historic England has been launched, which aims to capture Chapeltown’s African and Caribbean community.

The Chapeltown Photography Project will be led by photographer and local resident Solomon Charles-Kelly who will work with the community over the next five months to create a portrait of the North Leeds suburb. He will be supported by Lens Lab Project, a Leeds-based non-profit arts organisation.

Nearly 400 inspirational Leeds women, voted for by members of the public, are being celebrated with a new sculpture in the heart of the city’s cultural quarter.

Created by artist, Pippa Hale, Ribbons will be located at the top of the gardens between Leeds City College’s Quarry Hill campus and Leeds Playhouse at the gateway to the SOYO development at Quarry Hill, from July 2024.

Folk music fills the Howard Assembly Room this month as the venue hosts Lau-Land, the acclaimed weekend festival curated by multi award-winning alt-folk trio Lau and recently performed at Edinburgh International Festival. 

From Friday 17 – Sunday 19 May, audiences can experience and take part in a host of different events, from exhilarating live performances to workshops with the musicians, and even a family-friendly ceilidh.

Leeds-based SI Leeds Literary Prize is a biennial writing competition for UK-based Black and Asian women writers, which is currently open for submissions of unpublished fiction. Closing date for submissions 13th May.

A rare opportunity to catch sitar maestro and award-winning film composer Niladri Kumar in Leeds on Thursday 16 May, when he brings his immersive musical experience to the Howard Assembly Room for the very first time.

Leeds Rape Crisis Centre, SARSVL, has issued a call out for submissions of feminist short poems to celebrate feminist art and help raise money. At least 12 original poems will be selected for a ‘Feminist Poem a Month’ calendar to sell as a winter fundraiser, and/or share a selection of the poems submitted from 25th November to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls and the subsequent 16 days of action.

Opera North puts wellbeing centre-stage this month, with four special events in the Howard Assembly Room designed to soothe, revitalise and spread joy. Audiences can immerse themselves in a listening session with THABO, embark on a family-friendly adventure with Ladies of Midnight Blue, hear BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award winner Maddie Morris perform a relaxed concert and bask in a meditative Sound Bath with musicians from the Orchestra of Opera North.

Would you like to volunteer as part of a big art event in the city involving dancing through the streets of Leeds?