National Lottery Funding Boost For Bradford Heritage

Over £400,000 of National Lottery Heritage Fund investment has been made to empower the communities of Bradford to celebrate their heritage following the year as UK City of Culture 2025, and ensure that its cultural legacy will continue to thrive We are thrilled to continue our commitment to Bradford as a City of Culture.

Robbie Williams To Headline Lytham Festival 2027

ternational pop megastar Robbie Williams is heading to the North West in 2027 to headline the region’s largest live music festival. The 18 time BRIT Award winning pop giant will headline Lancashire’s Lytham Festival on Saturday July 3 – his only headlining show in mainland UK next summer.

Yorkshire Music Charity To Merge With National Young Talent Fund

A North Yorkshire-based music charity is joining forces with national charity Future Talent to provide increased support for young musicians in Yorkshire and the North East.

Elly Griffiths Crowned Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year For The Frozen People

Sussex novelist Elly Griffiths has won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2026 — the most coveted prize in British and Irish crime writing — for The Frozen People, a genre-bending mystery that sends a modern-day cold case detective back to the ice-bound streets of Victorian London.

Opera North To Perform At Bradford’s Darley Street Market

Opera North’s bitesize version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute comes to Bradford’s Darley Street Market this August, offering a fairy tale opera for all the family. Mini Magic Flute packs fun, fantasy and enchanting music into a 40-minute story, making it perfect for all ages to experience their first taste of opera. A prince is in search of a princess, but will they ever find each other?

Marching To A New Drum: What Do People Want For The Arts Under The New-Look Government?

As the UK welcomes a new Prime Minister, the country’s culture sector prepares for a period of change. In the eyes of the public, support for the arts continues to remain a top priority, with the number of people who think the arts deserve more government support reaching an all-time high, two years on from the General Election.

No Town Of Culture Title, But Ripon Already Knows What It's Worth

Ripon's theatre festival has earned more than applause — it has earned investment writes Andrew Palmer, Group Editor Somewhere between the deckchairs on the Market Place and this Friday's season finale — the Duke's Theatre Company's touring Romeo & Juliet at Ripon Racecourse, still to come — it has become clear that this year's Ripon Theatre Festival is no…

The Car Man

Loosely based on the James M Cain classic novel The Postman Always Rings Twice and not to be confused with Bizet’s opera Carmen, although the music is well-known, in Matthew Bourne’s ballet The Car Man’ the familiar 19th Century Spanish cigarette factory becomes a greasy 1950s garage diner in the American Midwest, and it is here where the dreams and passions of a sma…

One Voice Choir To Sing For Supper With A Soul Food Festival

Audience donations of tinned and dried food will be accepted as admission to special charity concert taking please this weekend Saturday 25th July as part of the MET programme of entertainment which launched in Preston this weekend. The One Voice Choir, a Preston based group, is inviting local music lovers to enjoy an evening of live entertainment while helping families in need this summer.

From Croy Village Hall To Nashville: Jamie Rafferty On The EP That Ticks Every Box

A village hall in North Lanarkshire is not where careers in Nashville are supposed to begin. Jamie Rafferty's did anyway.

Much-Loved Slingsby Gin Becomes New Festivals’ Partner

Harrogate International Festivals has announced a new partnership with the much-loved Slingsby Gin. The Harrogate-based gin brand, which supported the Festivals’ recent 60th anniversary Chairman’s Reception, has become its official gin partner. Chris and Asma Williams took over ownership of Slingsby in March, restoring the brand’s online shop after a period of transition.

All That Jazz - Jazz à Juan Festival

The annual Jazz à Juan Festival, held under the pines at Pinède Gould in Juan-les-Pins, might not be the largest jazz festival in Europe in terms of capacity – what the festival lacks in size is compensated by the stature and reputation Jazz à Juan holds within the jazz community.

The Graveyard Shift: The Dacre Dilemma By Rebecca Tope

This novel opens in the Henderson household, the everyday ‘chitchat’ establishing the ‘cosy’ genre. Who knew that a small florist’s business in the Lake District could be so busy, but Simmy is rushed off her feet. Husband, Christopher, is just as busy at his auction house in Keswick and between them, they juggle the care of their only son, Robin, who is two.

Poem Of The Week: Marky By Ian Duhig

Marky Is minic do bhris béal duine a shrón. - Irish proverb Watching this cormorant on the Wharfe hold open its wings to the admiring sun, I recall Marky Malone on his stag night removing his silk suit jacket very slowly to show off his Bullworker pecs to us and the man he'd picked out to fight - who smartly coshed him across his beak and swanned out of the silent public bar…

Classical Music: Thème varié

There is a particular pleasure in returning to a recording again and again as a reviewer and finding that it yields something new each time, while one thing remains constant. With this latest Chandos disc from Elena Urioste and Tom Poster, that constant is the sheer beauty of the playing: the balance between soloist and accompanist is judged to perfection, and the engineers have done what Chandos so often manages, capturing the sound with such transparency that the listener seems to be eavesdropping on the duo rather than hearing a recording at all. It is sublime, moving and endlessly captivating.

Albums: The Rolling Stones - Foreign Tongues

If that is the case, the band’s 25th studio album is a fine one to end with, coming with a huge dose of blues, rock, attitude and the unmistakable vocals of Mick Jagger; even at the age of 82, he can still rock with swagger and style.

Experimenting Versus Imagination

After the amazing response to the recent children's art competition, I didn't envy the judges’ job of picking a few winners and runners-up. There was an array of styles and mediums from ages four to eighteen. I wanted to show the world all the talented artists, but it would take a whole newspaper to include everyone.

Fast - Furious And Fabulous

As the lights go down in Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s Ice Arena, there’s an air of excitement and anticipation. The pulsating sound of the drums and chants gets louder, and the excitement builds to fever pitch.

December 10, Wulfrun Hall

Despite a shaky start, Simon Cowell's December 10 seems to be finally making headway. With the assumption that a Netflix series would propel them to instant international success and huge chart acclaim, they appear to have fallen very far short of those anticipations.

Creation – The Award-Winning North York Moors Chamber Music Festival Celebrates Its 18th Birthday With Six Premieres

The North York Moors Chamber Music Festival celebrates its 18th consecutive year this August with the premieres of six brand new compositions from some of the UK’s finest contemporary composers.

From Solving Crimes To Signing Books: Yorkshire Detective Heads To Glasgow Book Bonanza

Yorkshire crime author Roshan Pitteea will travel to Scotland later this month to meet readers and fellow writers at one of the UK's fastest-growing independent author events.

Cast Announced For The World Premiere Of The Farmer’s Wife At Theatre By The Lake

Theatre by the Lake has announced the cast for the world premiere of The Farmer's Wife, a new play by Hannah Khalil inspired by Helen Rebanks' Sunday Times bestselling memoir of the same name.

Blue Plaque Installed At Liverpool ONE Is Music To Brad’s Ears

A blue plaque has been unveiled at Liverpool ONE to mark the spot where piano star Brad Kella first performed at the centre more than 10 years ago.

Screen Off, Imagination On! Swap Screen Time For Sculpture At The Hepworth Wakefield This Summer

As families prepare for the summer holidays, The Hepworth Wakefield is encouraging parents to press pause on screen time and rediscover the joy of making, exploring and playing together – with all family activities free for kids.

Derren Brown - Only Human

There can only be one word to describe this show – Mesmerizing. Remaining true to my promise to not reveal the show’s content, you may think that perhaps I would struggle to write anything at all, but quite to the contrary, there is much to say and describe. Audience participation is very much the name of the game for Derren Brown’s Only Human show.

In Conversation: Bongeziwe Mabandla

Few artists capture vulnerability with the grace and honesty of Bongeziwe Mabandla. Across his acclaimed catalogue, the South African singer-songwriter has built a reputation for crafting intimate songs that blend folk, electronic textures and Xhosa storytelling into something deeply personal yet universally resonant.

Vasily Petrenko On Nurturing Talent, Broadening Horizons And Lifelong Learning

Following the success of his 2026 Academy for Young Conductors, Vasily Petrenko reflects on what it takes to shape the next generation of conductors – and what he wishes he’d been taught in his early years This week, as I wrapped up the Academy for Young Conductors in the Armenian capital of Yerevan for another year, I was struck by a recurring thought: I wish something…

Billy Ocean - All Plain Sailing In Halifax

They were one of the biggest bands in the late eighties and early nineties, culminating in 1994 when Wet Wet Wet spent fifteen consecutive weeks at Number One with their version of Love Is All Around. The group are still recording and touring, though original frontman Marti Pellow is now a solo artist besides having an acclaimed acting career.

DLA Piper Renews Partnership With CBSO For Fourth Consecutive Year

The CBSO has announced that global law firm DLA Piper’s Birmingham office has renewed its partnership with the orchestra for a fourth consecutive year.

In Conversation With Headwreck

Having earned a reputation as one of Australia's most electrifying new acts, Headwreck already have their sights set on world domination.

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