One of Leeds’ best-loved – and most colourful – events of the year is back for 2023, and it’s going to be bigger than ever before.
Holi Festival – known as the Festival of Colours – is a joyous celebration of peace, love, happiness and equality through live music and bright colours.
Leeds Holi Festival 2022 was a triumphant success and saw 1,200 Holi Lovers making it the biggest Colour Festival in Yorkshire, but this year, Holi Festival are kicking it up a notch and are bringing 2,500 people together to celebrate – making it the biggest open air colour festival in the UK.
The event commemorates forgiveness and peace and is widely celebrated in India and adopted around the world for celebration.
Beloved Holi Festival returns to Leeds in 2023 / Credit: Leeds Holi Festival
Holi Festival celebrates the welcoming of spring and is seen as a time for people, no matter what caste or ethnicity, to get together and enjoy a feeling of togetherness, community and happiness.
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This year’s celebrations in Leeds are set to involve the traditional dry powder paints, as well as the serving of street food, live DJs and performances right in the heart of the city.
Red is the sign of love, yellow is synonymous with healing properties, blue is the colour of Lord Krishna, and green symbolises new beginnings – and through the use of these vibrant colours, Leeds Holi Festival aims at bringing different cultures together with different genres of music under one roof.
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It’s set to be bigger and more colourful than ever before / Credit: Leeds Holi Festival
Eshaan Kapoor, founder of Leeds Holi Festival said: “Our purpose is to bring different cultures together, spread love, positivity through music, colours and food. It is best known around the world for the powder that friends and families throw on each other and it’s the festival of love, peace and happiness.”
Holi Festival’s main sponsor this year is Leeds-based taxi firm Amber Cars – who will be providing festival goers safe journeys to and from the event with no added surcharge.
“We are proud to sponsor such a vibrant, unique festival and be part of Leeds Holi Festival,” said Tarlochan, Regional Director at Amber Cars.
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“Amber cars will be providing safe rides to all festival goers making their journey safe and secured”.
is a joyous celebration of peace, love, happiness and equality/ Credit: Leeds Holi Festival
British-Pakistani singer-songwriter, Zack Knight, will be headlining the event and providing the ultimate party tracks for guests to dance all day whilst being covered head to toe in bright colours from Ministry of Colours.
Other sponsors include Kirkstall Brewery and Slingsby Gin, with Punjabi Heaven from Roundhay providing delicious street food for the day. Through finding Yorkshire-based sponsors, the festival aims to bring like-minded people together to make Holi Festival one of the biggest events in the Leeds calendar.
Holi Festival will take place on 11 March 2023 at Beaverworks from 12.30pm till 7.30pm.
Tier one and two tickets have already sold out for the seven hour event, but remaining tier three tickets are still available to grab.
New details released ahead of world-premiere exhibition taking visitors on ‘epic space adventure’
Emily Sergeant
Some exciting new details of a major exhibition taking visitors on an ‘epic space adventure’ in Manchester next month have been revealed.
Making its world premiere, Horrible Science: Cosmic Chaos will invite visitors to explore our wondrous Solar System when it launches at the Science and Industry Museum in a few weeks time.
Announced in November last year fresh off-the-back of the new BBC Children’s and Education TV show, Horrible Science, the ‘thrilling’ new exhibition will encourage visitors to ‘do science the horrible way’, and join both scientists and supervillains to unveil the secrets of space.
The new exhibition will propel families up into space where mystery, intrigue, and rocket-loads of silly and surprising science await. You’ll get to venture through a series of cosmic zones, walk in the shoes of astronauts, explore the life-giving energy of the sun, marvel at mysterious moons, and discover far-off weird worlds.
Left teetering on the edge of our Solar System, explorers will then find themselves staring into the dark depths of space, on the lookout for any extra-terrestrial life that could be staring back.
Whether its sniffing astronauts’ smelly socks, dancing on an alien disco planet, feeling the tremors from a mysterious moonquake, or launching a space rocket, organisers say this new adventure will engage all the senses in a truly immersive experience.
This is the first time Horrible Science has been brought to life as a major exhibition.
Horrible Science: Cosmic Chaos opens in a few weeks time / Credit: Drew Forsyth (Science Museum Group)
Visitors will get to see familiar characters from the BBC series – like Dr Big Brain, in particular – on their mission to find out more about our fascinating Solar System through interactive experiments, playful challenges, and sensory exploration.
Newly announced are the names of some of the different exciting areas of the exhibition, like ‘Awesome Astronauts’, where life aboard the International Space Station is revealed, and ‘Mysterious Moon’ where visitors explore the only place beyond Earth ever visited by humans.
There’s also ‘Sizzling Sun’, ‘Weird Worlds’, and sensory spaces like the ‘Cosy Crater’ and ‘Dreadful Deep Space’ to make the most of.
The exhibition is being developed by the Science and Industry Museum in collaboration with producers of the Horrible Science TV show, BBC Children’s and Education, and Lion Television, together with Scholastic, who are publishers of the much-loved Horrible Science book series by Nick Arnold and illustrated by Tony De Saulles.
‘Unmissable’ objects from the Science Museum Group’s world-class space collection will also be on show when the exhibition premieres.
Horrible Science: Cosmic Chaos will open at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester on 13 February 2026 for an 11-month run before heading down to London, and tickets are now on sale priced at £10 – with family discounts available, and under-threes going free.
Featured Image – Drew Forsyth (Science Museum Group)
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Printworks set to host a FREE music festival headlined by local music veterans
Danny Jones
You heard us right, Printworks is expanding its wide-ranging calendar of entertainment and leisure in 2026 with its very own completely free music festival here in Manchester.
Better still, it’s set to be headlined by some cult favourites.
The one-off event will debut next month to celebrate the arrival of the 2026 BRIT Awards, with the annual ceremony and accompanying seven days of intimate live shows coming to the city of Manchester for the very first time.
Set to take place from Friday afternoon until Saturday evening, 27-28 February (4-10pm and 2-10, respectively), the open access weekender has been dubbed ‘Live and Loud’.
Judging by the lineup of artists announced for Printworks’ debut music festival, we have every faith it will live up to the name.
As well as Manchester DJ Matt Hydes kicking things off, followed by the likes of R’n’B soul artist, KingFast, resident Reform Radio MC Urbi will also be joining the lineup, as well as regional dance veteran, Gareth James, and an intimate set by Sabira Jade.
That’s just a small handful of those who signed up to play the inaugural Live & Loud 2025.
As for your headliners, we’re buzzing to confirm that local house legends K-Klass are topping the bill; they may be from Chester, but they’ve been based here for ages and are practically part of the cultural fabric at this point.
You can see the full Live and Loud lineup and Printworks artist spotlight down below:
Friday, 27 Feb, 2026
Tristan Walsh
2Vibe
Urbi
KingFast
Honey Bee Jazz Band
Matt Hydes
Sat, 28
K-Klass
Matt Walsh & Jay Murt
Sabira Jade
Gareth James
Kick Back Sundays
Jorge Martin
Guy Connor
Emma Ellis
Printworks general manager, Dan Davis, said in an official statement: “Manchester is renowned for its musical heritage, and we are excited to bring music to life here at Printworks.
“Live & Loud will place Manchester artists front and centre, with an eclectic line-up that is diverse in genre, background and generation – reflecting our commitment to championing a wide range of local and upcoming artistic talent for a must-attend weekend of live music.”
In case you missed it, this brand-new event also comes amid a raft of small-capacity fundraising shows across the country.
Colette Burroughs-Rose, Director at Genre Music, added: “Live & Loud is Manchester in full voice – familiar faces and new names coming together under one roof across two standout days.
“This is Genre Music’s home city, and we’re proud to be partnering with Printworks on a music programme that welcomes everyone: family-friendly by day, great for evenings with friends.
“Alongside curating a truly eclectic mix of the city’s incredible DJs and live acts, we’re also capturing the artists’ stories on film to help amplify their voices and creativity beyond the stage.”
With the BRIT Awards being hosted at the Co-op Live arena not just this Feb but until 2027 as well, here’s hoping this is just the inaugural ‘L&L Fest and we at least get a sophomore edition next year.
There’s plenty of other music festivals happening in Greater Manchester throughout the year, especially this summer.
Sounds From The Other City has released its 2026 lineup, and there's set to be more than 100 exciting acts playing on 17 stages across #Salford. 🎶🎸
Clementine Hall -
3rd March 2023 
