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.
Sensory-friendly Northern Lights to illuminate Printworks’ digital ceiling to mark Neurodiversity Celebration Week
Emily Sergeant
This week marks the start of Neurodiversity Celebration Week.
Approximately 15-20% of the population has a neurological difference, according to the most recent statistics, and Neurodiversity Celebration Week (16-20 March 2026) highlighting the importance of championing, raising awareness of, and accommodating neurodiverse people.
And Printworks is marking the occasion in its own special way, with a series of new initiatives designed to create a more ‘inclusive’ and ‘sensory-friendly’ environment.
You may already know that the popular indoor entertainment complex in the heart of Manchester city centre is home to more than a dozen bars, restaurants, and leisure activities – including one of the largest IMAX screens on the continent – and Europe’s largest digital ceiling too, of course, but this week’s experience is unlike anything the venue has welcomed before.
Throughout the week, Printworks will be transforming its digital ceiling with calming Northern Lights and constellations which have been specifically designed to create a relaxed, sensory-friendly atmosphere for visitors with additional sensory needs.
Northern Lights to illuminate Printworks’ digital ceiling to mark Neurodiversity Celebration Week / Credit: Supplied
As part of a long-term commitment to accessibility and inclusivity, Printworks is also introducing a weekly sensory-friendly hour every Sunday too, where lighting throughout the venue will be dimmed, and music and SFX volumes reduced for a reduced-stimulus environment.
200 free sensory packs – which can be collected at Vue cinema – with a pair of ear defenders and sensory-friendly toys, designed to support visitors who may benefit from sensory tools while enjoying the venue, are also on offer throughout the course of the week.
On top of this, there’s also a range of autism-friendly cinema screenings taking place on the last Sunday of every month at 10:30am.
An additional autism-friendly screening will be taking place with a showing of Hoppers this Sunday 22 March at 10:30am, with tickets now available from Vue’s website.
“Neurodiversity Celebration Week is an important time for brands and venues to recognise and support the diverse ways visitors and audiences experience the world,” commented Dan Davis, who is the General Manager at Printworks.
“We endeavour to ensure that all visitors feel comfortable and welcome when spending time at Printworks.”
Find out more about Neurodiversity Celebration Week on Printworks’ website here.
Featured Image – Supplied
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Lovely last-minute Mother’s Day ideas from Selfridges in Manchester
The Manc
Mother’s Day is this Sunday – and if those words have just sent you into a blind panic, just take a breath and head straight across to Selfridges.
The huge department store has come up with all sorts of things that make for perfect last-minute gifts and experiences.
That includes a carefully curated selection of gifts available in-store, plus a very special Morning With Mum beauty workshop so you can spend some quality time together on Mother’s Day.
Selfridges can be your one-stop shop for the big day.
In both Exchange Square and Trafford Centre stores, you can pick up lovely gifts like feast-filled hampers, fabulous accessories, luxury chocolates, candles, and even cards.
As always, there are gifts you can have personalised in-store for a sentimental present for the mother figure in your life.
If you’re really stuck, you can pop along to the Beauty Concierge and book her an experience.
And over in Selfridges Exchange Square, you can pick up a beautiful fresh bouquet from The Royal Exchange Florists.
Selfridges has loads of last-minute Mother’s Day ideas
There’s rarely a gift more precious than quality time together, which is why Selfridges will be hosting a special Mother’s Day floor-wide beauty event on Saturday 14 March.
Ticket-holders will receive expert beauty advice from your favourite brands, while enjoying complimentary drinks and sweet treats.
There’ll also be plus exclusive gifts with purchase available, and giveaways on the day, and you can redeem the £20 ticket price against products purchased on the day.
You can even grab an artist print for mum at the vending machine.
Tickets for the Morning With Mum beauty workshop are on sale HERE.
You could also share a moment over a glass of champagne at San Carlo in both locations, or grab a sweet treat from the bakery in the Trafford Centre store.
Clementine Hall -
3rd March 2023 
