There's more content than you would believe. Hopefully this will make finding it a bit easier...
The Route to Cappyness: Notts filmmaker Sharon Walia on her brand new documentary
Sat 22 Aug 2026Nottingham filmmaker Sharon Walia’s work has covered a variety of topics – from guinea pigs to refugees. With her newest documentary, The Route to Cappyness, she looks at how the world’s largest rodent could be the key to positivity across the globe, from Brazil and Japan to the USA and Wheelgate Park. We spoke to Sharon about why the capybara is important, how she made the film, and her travels across the UK, USA, Brazil, and Japan.
Warp drive: visiting Warp Miniatures, Sneinton Market's own fantasy wargaming haven
Sat 15 Aug 2026Nottingham company Games Workshop and its ‘Warhammer’ brand of science fiction and fantasy miniatures have become part of our city’s cultural makeup. But just as every giant planet tends to have moons, a group of smaller stores orbit it, comprising what’s often called the UK’s ‘Lead Belt’. Sneinton Market’s Warp Miniatures, run by Alex and Wingshan Huntley, is one such business.
The wondrous world of Ruby D’Woo: meeting Nottingham’s own burlesque and cabaret star
Fri 14 Aug 2026From workshop classes in Haus of Ruby D’Woo, to hosting top-notch live burlesque and cabaret shows across the county, Ruby D’Woo is Nottingham's award-winning burlesque and cabaret artist. Ahead of the Cosy Cabaret coming up next month, she tells us what brought her to the burlesque stage, how she crafts performances, and why burlesque has become a journey of self-expression, confidence, and empowerment for so many…
Putting down roots: the story of the Windrush Generation and St Ann's Allotments explored in a new book
Mon 10 Aug 2026Colin Haynes’ book, Caribbean Pioneer Gardeners, tells the story of men whose love for gardening gave them much more than callaloo and oxheart tomatoes. It shares the true story of a group of Windrush residents who turned the neglected, overgrown Hungerhill Gardens, or St Ann's Allotments, as they would become known, into a Caribbean-inspired culinary and horticultural haven.
Pick Six: Just The Tonic founder Darrell Martin
Mon 03 Aug 2026This month we feature Darrell Martin, who founded Just The Tonic Comedy Club in Nottingham in 1994, which has since grown to host comedy nights nationwide and at Metronome every Saturday. At this month’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival they will be promoting 215 shows across nineteen performance spaces…
Locating Lawrence: July 1926
Wed 29 Jul 2026The hot weather is affecting Lawrence’s ability to write, but he has the energy for sword-dancing…
Long live the queens! We chat to the Gladrags drag queens ahead of Nottingham Pride
Fri 17 Jul 2026Here in Notts we’re often blessed with the talents of some top notch drag artists – most perform as part of the well loved Gladrags collective and club night. For Pride 2026, on Sat 25 July, many of the queens we know and love will be seen in action for the grand afterparty at The Palais. In preparation, Bee Green catches up with five performers who are on the lineup…
Theatre Review: The Market Deeping Model Railway Club at Nottingham Playhouse
Mon 13 Jul 2026The third of Nottingham Playhouse's new season by local playwrights is a charming production, written by William Ivory. It focuses on a group of seven men (and one woman) who bond and overcome personal traumas by exhibiting model railways...
Exhibition review: Drawn Through Time at Lakeside Arts
Sat 11 Jul 2026Nottingham's cultural landscape has quietly become one of the most exciting in the Midlands, with Lakeside Arts consistently bringing ambitious exhibitions to the city that challenge how audiences engage with contemporary art. Its latest exhibition, Drawn Through Time, is no exception. Housed within the Djanogly Gallery at the University of Nottingham, the exhibition takes what many might consider the simplest of artistic practices – drawing – and transforms it into something far richer: a way of navigating history, memory and imagination.
Theatre Review: Dyke Systems Ltd by Fag Packet at the Nottingham Playhouse
Fri 10 Jul 2026This award-winning theatre double act come to Nottingham with a comedy show that is part queer fever dream and part corporate seminar, and much more...
Altered State: Nottingham’s vital role in 1990s dance culture
Thu 09 Jul 2026In his book Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House, journalist Matthew Collin documents the cultural explosion sparked by the potent combination of house music and MDMA, which catalysed a remarkable upsurge of creative activity, from London to Glasgow, Manchester to Belfast – and Nottingham. Matthew tells us what made the city integral in this powerful cultural movement.
When We Were B Boys: how breakdancing took over 1980s Nottingham
Mon 06 Jul 2026This year marks the tenth anniversary of a documentary about a less widely recognised part of Nottingham history. NG83: When We Were B Boys, follows a particular few years in the mid 80s when, through happenstance, Notts became the UK’s unofficial breakdancing capital. In advance of two events celebrating the anniversary of the film, two of its co-directors: Claude Knight and Luke Scott, reminisce on making it.
People Laughing: Music to dance and cry to
Fri 03 Jul 2026People Laughing landed on the Nottingham music scene in January 2026 with big tunes, smooth aesthetics and catchy songwriting. The trio, made up of singer/guitarist Matt Grocott, bassist Ollie Carnell and drummer Luke Hallam, have showed no sign of showing, with a three-date residency at Nottingham’s legendary Acoustic Rooms, sets at big venues including The Bodega and Rescue Rooms, and even an appearance at Nottingham’s biggest festival, Splendour, upcoming. Singer Matt joined up for a chat to tell us all about the project, what they draw from and what’s next...
More than a gig a day: Catching up with Isaac Neilson
Thu 02 Jul 2026Singer-songwriter Isaac Neilson is from Buxton in our neighbouring county and based here in Nottingham. But since 1 January it’s been hard to find him in the city. On that fateful day, Neilson began a mind-blowing challenge: to perform a gig on every single day of 2026. LeftLion caught up with Neilson at the halfway point of the year…
Actor Chelsea Da Silva talks about Roald Dahl's The Enormous Crocodile at Nottingham Puppet Festival
Mon 29 Jun 2026Later this week, as part of Nottingham Puppet Festival, an adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Enormous Crocodile comes to Theatre Royal. Lead actor Chelsea Da Silva tells us more...
Interview: Author Ian C Douglas' new creative writing courses at Nottingham Trent University
Sun 28 Jun 2026This summer, local author Ian C Douglas is teaching two new world-building courses as part of Nottingham Trent University's Creative Short Courses programme. He chats to LeftLion about making stuff up...
LeftLion's Latest Listens #47: Notts music we're currently spinning
Fri 26 Jun 2026In this edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens for 2026, our music team reviews new releases from Drinking With Lucy, EMiDORA, Saffron Gray and Isaac Neilson...
LeftLion at Download 2026
Sun 21 Jun 2026LeftLion's Kieran Lister spills the tea on his first time experience at the legendary Download Festival, which last weekend - despite the crowds - once again turned Donington Park into a place of mass catharsis, self-expression and freedom...