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In the club: Club Jok are bringing global cultures to big screens in Notts

Club Jok is a Nottingham-based film curation team that is bringing cultures from around the world to the big screen through films both new and old. We speak to film enthusiast and Club Jok’s lead programmer Samuel Leary, to hear more…

Closing chapter: Jane Streeter looks back at thirty years of Lowdham shop The Bookcase

After thirty years at the heart of Lowdham village, The Bookcase — an independent bookshop founded and owned by Jane Streeter – has now closed its doors. Selling an abundance of local and global books, the shop supported local schools in the community, and also welcomed a few famous authors over the years, along with founding the Lowdham Book Festival which happened for over twenty-six years. Jane told us about the journey of the bookshop, along with the highs and core memories, over three decades…

Life Behind Bars: With Bradley Rice, owner at Jamcafe

A short chat with Bradley, who owns Heathcoat Street's Mecca for drinks and DJs: Jamcafé. 

Beyond the senses: author Kerry Ward discusses her new publication This Book Will Make You Psychic

The concept of having psychic powers beyond our physical senses is one we often associate with movies – a rare talent reserved for a special few – but can these abilities be learned? This Book Will Make You Psychic is a new guide by local author and professional tarot reader Kerry Ward, created for anyone interested in tapping into their psychic abilities. We sat down with Kerry to have a chat about mindfulness, intuition, coincidence, and what lies beyond our physical senses…

Pick Six: JT Soar's Phil Booth

Ahead of JT Soar Fest #3 at The Old Cold Store on Saturday 31 October - Sunday 1 November, for this month’s Pick Six we turned to Phil Booth of DIY music venue and recording studio JT Soar.

How Pipeline Organics are turning Castle Rock's brewery waste into electricity

There's a brewery in Nottingham quietly turning its dirty water into electricity. Not with some Frankenstein-style contraption bolted to the side of the building, but with a 3D-printed box about the size of a shipping container, sat in the yard, doing the job normal water treatment can't: cleaning up the gunky, high-strength wastewater that beer and cider production leaves behind and generating usable power from it while it's at it. That's the pitch behind Pipeline Organics, a Nottingham-founded startup whose bio-electrochemical fuel cells are already being trialled by Castle Rock Brewery. We sat down with founder Andrew Raslan to find out more…

Gig review: Basht. at Rough Trade

It's hard to find an out-of-town band with so much love for Nottingham as Irish post-punk scenesters Basht. This year alone they have played in our city twice, and plan to go for a hattrick in late October with an appearance at Rescue Rooms. With this admiration, it's obvious why we were so keen to catch their show at Rough Trade as it celebrated the release of one of the best albums of 2026...

Hoppy Birthday: Neon Raptor Brewery turns ten

Sneinton Market’s Neon Raptor turned ten years old this year. To celebrate they’re also opening another bar just over the road from their current taproom and brewery on Gedling Street. We caught up with Directors and Co-owners Josh Mellor and Tom Ainsley to reflect on the last decade and the changes they’ve seen both in Notts and in the beer industry over that time…

Dabbling in the Dark Arts: we catch up with organisers of the Dark Arts Market

It’s officially the spooky season, but for Fiona Holmes and Elyssa Fleming, the eldritch, strange and eerie is more than just an aesthetic that ends with Halloween. They talk to LeftLion about how they created The Dark Arts Market, a place where all ‘alt’ artists and creatives, at all stages of their creative career, can feel seen and supported. 

We chat to Ibibio Sound Machine's Eno Williams ahead of the band's Rescue Rooms show

Ibibio Sound Machine are a leading act within African and Electronic music. They have had multiple appearances on Later... with Jools Holland and countless plays across the BBC. They bring a showstopping performance to every stage they grace and have echoed the walls of Wembley Stadium. LeftLion sat down with frontwoman Eno Williams to discuss their latest release, Chopping Mountain, and their ongoing tour, reflecting on making music now compared to their 2014 debut, as well as that moment Coldplay asked the band to open for them in the UK’s biggest stadium...

Festival review: Beeston Oxjam 2026

Art Works: Natalie Coe on her new Notts Broad Marsh mural

For this month’s Art Works, Natalie Coe (aka Talia) tells us about her new public mural which features as part of the Broad Marsh redevelopment, in collaboration with Art Fest… 

Gig review: We Are Scientists at Rock City

More than 20 years ago, We Are Scientists wowed with their major label debut With Love and Squalor. Now, with the album certified gold and a cult career on their belt, they have returned with a tour celebrating this seminal record. We caught them at Rock City...

Good neighbours: Emmanuel House on their 50th birthday

Over in Hockley, Emmanuel House has been a pillar of the community for fifty years, providing a huge range of services to people experiencing homelessness in Nottingham. Extending from hot meals and shelter, to offering a multi-functional community hub and signposting, the centre’s work is imbued with care and compassion.

Ahead of their anniversary concert events coming up this month, we chatted to Emmanuel House Marketing and Communications Manager Nicola Ramsdale, to hear about their history and the services they offer.

Competition: Win a pair of tickets to Wingtoberfest

The ultimate mash-up of chicken wings, beer, live music and Bavarian-style mayhem is coming to Nottingham for a two-day celebration on 23-24 October. We have two pairs of tickets to give away for two clucky readers...

LeftLion's Latest Listens #53: Notts music we're currently spinning

In the 53rd edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens, our music team reviews releases from Otala, Matt Blaney, Wayne Banks and Make Strangers...

Exhibition Review: Rosemary Wels, A Retrospective at the Nottingham Society of Artists

Rosemary Wels’ final exhibition at the Nottingham Society of Artists is as educational as it is impressive as you walk through the story of her career from school sketches to Nottingham rainy-night landscapes.

Comedy Interview: Ben Macpherson from Nottingham Comedy Festival

Ben is a familiar face on the Nottingham comedy circuit, including Club Wormhole and Apple of Discord. And in November he's one of the acts at the Nottingham Comedy Festival. He shares some of his comedy secrets with Left Lion...