Journalists, chefs, comedians, writers, members of parliament and TV personality aplenty will be filling Leeds with debate over a huge four day festival.
Leeds International Festival of Ideas is set to host the UK’s ‘biggest celebration of new ideas’, with fireside chats and panel discussions with the likes of Davina McCall, Will Young, Dame Prue Leith and Matt Baker.
Just over the Pennines TV barrister and University of Manchester alumni Rob Rinder will be bringing ‘the rule of law’ to life whilst Northern journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy takes on the question: ‘Who does our political system benefit?’ – but that’s just the beginning…
Taking place this September inside new venue Leeds Playhouse, this is set to be LIFI’s biggest year to date, The Hoot reports.
Announcing the full line-up last night, festival organisers have revealed that the likes of Davina McCall, Dame Prue Leith and Will Young, will be taking to the stage alongside huge names from the world of entertainment, politics and business, including Yorkshire’s Michelin starred chef Tommy Banks, Matt Baker MBE, Jay Blades MBE, Gemma Whelan, Amber Rudd, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Rob Rinder, Sir Jon Cuncliffe, and many more.
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These exciting names will be joining TV personality Bimini, who will be talking about ‘a world beyond the binary’; author and comedian Ruby Wax OBE will be bringing ‘my journey to mindfulness’ to life with a key note speaker show whilst ‘a new generation of entrepreneurism’ will be covered by Diary of a CEO’s Steven Bartlett.
Working in partnership with LeedsBID, The Hoot Leeds and Weightmans, the idea of the festival is to bring conversations to the surface, using a combination of panels, fireside chats and speeches to inspire, provoke and encourage discussions.
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Questions vary from ‘what’s our obsession with true crime?’ to ‘who does our political system benefit?’ and ‘how do we talk about grief?’ – and this year’s line-up certainly won’t be shying away from the hard questions.
Will Young, appearing at LIFI23 says: “I’m excited to be part of a festival exploring many of the things that make us human. It’s so important not only to ask these questions of each other, but to spend time listening when we don’t have all the answers. What a fantastic line up!”
Leeds International Festival of Ideas Full Line-up
Wednesday 27 September 2023
Davina McCall will be on the panel for ‘when will women’s health be taken seriously’. / Image: Chapter 81
Panel: When will women’s health be taken seriously? with Davina McCall, Dr Christine Ekechi and Lauren Mahon, plus more names to be announced
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Fireside chat: A New Generation Of Entrepreneurism with Steven Bartlett
Tickets cost from £10 – £15 each for subsidised tickets, and this year there’s more seats than ever before (moving to the Playhouse has increased seating capacity by 40%).
Leeds Playhouse, Artistic Director and CEO James Brining said: “It is so exciting to see the range of artists and speakers attending Leeds International Festival 2023. All are individuals at the top of their game and using their platforms to amplify the voices of others as well as exploring issues of importance and significance for contemporary society.
“At Leeds Playhouse, our aim is to open up our theatre, with its flexible conference spaces and three auditoria, welcoming local, national and international artists to the region, facilitating conversations and sharing stories that reflect the world we live in. We also aim to celebrate Leeds as a culture rich, vibrant city and hosting LIFI in 2023 certainly helps us achieve that goal.”
Feature Image – Chapter 81
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Art & Culture
A groundbreaking new multi-use entertainment and leisure venue is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
A new multi-purpose food, drink, entertainment and leisure destination is coming to Manchester city centre and the Salford border this autumn, and you won’t find many places that roll so much into one spot.
Mancs, get ready to welcome ‘Tangerine’.
Conceived by an impressive collective of local creatives, indies and those with plenty of experience catering to the Northern masses, Tangerine is promising everything from multiple resident kitchens, a live music hall, an arthouse stage, a specialist martini bar and more.
Better yet, after a year in the making and quietly chipping away at the striking space, it opens later this month, so you don’t have to wait long to try it for yourselves.
Located on New Bailey Street, just on the edge of Spinningfields and Salford Central, this groundbreaking new venue features two main platforms (utilising the integrated charm of the historic railway arches), each boasting its own selection of attractions.
While platform one will offer a bakery, coffee roastery, wine store and bottle ship, the ‘Canteen Club’ and even a florist, number two will contain the music hall, arthouse stage and the stylish ‘Grand Departures’ bar – serving seven espresso martini alone – Tangerine will deliver a seamless day to night transition.
Arguably, however, the centrepiece is the ‘Cantina Collective’. The food and drink hall promises seven in-house kitchens, showcasing a variety of cuisines.
The opening line-up already confirmed includes Vanda: a family-run Parisian-inspired Ukrainian bakery; Mexican taqueria, PANTERA, burger joint Juicy, as well as Yo Dutchie (a unique fusion of Dutch-Japanese food) and a new Korean/ramen concept from local sushi favourites, Unagi.
Our stomachs are already grumbling just thinking about it.
CGI renders of the completed space. (Credit: Supplied)
Designed not only by the brains behind Northern Quarter’s beloved Mala hidden garden but WANT STUDIOS, who will be ensuring local artists, independents, and traders will be regularly spotlighted, the site will boast a capacity of well over 300 people.
Artyom Dmitrijev, owner of Tangerine and Mala, said in a statement: “Over a year in the making, we’ve used all our experience in design, interiors, architecture and hospitality to create our dream project. A place for all the independents to come together and thrive.”
Andy Windsor, Director of WANT STUDIOS, added: “Tangerine unites the city’s independent kitchens, bar tenders, bakeries and entertainment specialists. It is a unique showcase of what we do in the city. This is a new space for creativity, food, and culture, and we’re proud to be part of it.”
Debuting to the public with a big Halloween weekender on the evening of Friday, 31 October, with another launch event the following Saturday, you can sign up for exclusive early access for free, which could see you score a few freebies to boot.
Featured Images — Press shots (supplied)/Tangerine MCR (via Instagram)
Art & Culture
First vendors confirmed Glossop Market Hall, including two indie Manc traders
Danny Jones
The first vendors for the upcoming Glossop Market Hall have been announced, and the lineup includes two beloved Greater Manchester independent businesses.
Better still, the third is another noteworthy name from the North West.
Glossop Market Hall is scheduled to launch later this year, setting up shop in the historic town hall complex, where the High Peak Borough Council, a retail shopping arcade and various other municipal buildings have stood in various different iterations for nearly well over a century.
With the Derbyshire town set to celebrate the opening of the newly revamped market hall, those behind the new Glossop attraction have now revealed the first three names set to take up residence there.
As you can see, the biggest names already signed on to cook from one of the six kitchens is a Manchester favourite food hall in its own right: Hello Oriental.
The Pan-Asian paradise not only has a subterranean space below Circle Square, but also at The Trafford Centre, as well as a dessert spin-off in Freight Island.
Indie trader number two comes in the form of B&V Trading, who are based at Stanley Square in Sale and specialise in eco-friendly, UK-made treats, toys and essentials for four-legged friends.
After proving a hit with the locals, their small stall at nearby Altrincham Market has grown to see them open up not just a second site in the leafy Cheshire suburbs of Knutsford back in 2022, but now boast a third location in neighbouring Macclesfield.
Speaking of Macc, local gin and whisky makers, Forest Distillery – based up at the famous Cat and Fiddle Inn pub towards the Peaks – they round out the first wave of regional businesses set to pop up in Glossop Market Hall (GMH) when it finally arrives this winter.
And once again, as the update on social media reads: “This is just the beginning”.
Natives, day-trippers and tourists from all over are bound to visit this place when it opens sometime in November (exact date still TBC), and with space not only for a dedicated bar, dining space and a coffee shop, but a total of 17 retail spaces, we can’t wait to see what comes next.
GMH becomes just the latest among a growing trend of food and drink halls popping up all over our part of the country, with virtually every Greater Manchester borough now boasting at least one of their own – or, in the city centre’s case, what feels like a dozen now.
Exhibit number… not sure, we’ve lost track at this point.
Sophie Smith -
5th April 2023 
