Tickets HERE

In celebration of our peatlands, and Bog Day 2025,  join us for an enlightening, cosy evening featuring four outstanding short films, live music, and discussion with directors and  artists.

Tickets HERE

We are a Leeds University Union Theatre Group -  Aireborne Theatre company. 

This summer we will be performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival from the 13th to the 23rd of August a production of ‘Lost Paws’ an original play written by Ellie Rose Amit and Charlotte Pine, directed by Ellie Rose. It is about two cats that go missing in London, finding each other amongst the hustle of one of the busiest cities in the world. Their respective owners scour their neighbourhoods to find their best friends, but end up finding each other. It is a warm and funny adventure - comedy and we can't wait to build the world of Lost Paws with the help of this event!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the four Situation Leeds CHATSHOW events over the past couple of months. It was fantastic to instigate wider discussions on the place of public art in the city. 

We’re now looking ahead to what’s next, and what came from the last event was a desire for an informal collaborative space, so the next event will be a chance for people to come together, support one another, and share experiences to build a stronger visual art community. 

Next meet-up: Tuesday 8 July, 6 - 8pm

Venue: Hyde Park Book Club, LS6 1BL

We’re interested to see how these gatherings might continue, potentially as regular meet-ups, shaped by the needs and ideas of the group. 

Following the meet-up, there is also an opening for the newest show at Hyde Park  Art Club, The Wrangthorn Enquirer: ‘News From Now and Here’, in the main space from 8 pm. 

A free-entry art market that is fighting back against the government’s attack on trans rights. Browse or buy from a range of beautiful, trans-run market stalls. Show up to show support for those whose rights are under attack, whether you are a cis ally or member of the queer community. Come and show solidarity and love for trans people in Leeds, especially trans women. Help stallholders to raise funds if you are able, by buying their art, accessories, clothes, stickers, trinkets and more. Many will be fundraising for gender-affirming care, at a time when it is getting harder and harder to access. Stallholders will be announced on Instagram @artburnmarket. Grab a drink, enjoy the tunes and inhale the heart-warming smell of community spirit.
Free entry. Drop by the basement between 12 and 3.30pm.

Tickets HERE

Join us for the Leeds launch of Use the Words You Have by Kimberly Campanello, in conversation with award-winning poet Jason Allen-Paisant.

A striking debut novel and literary romance like no other, Kimberly Campanello’s Use the Words You Have unfurls over a long, hot Breton summer as American student K’s love affair with an older local ignites her self-actualisation as a woman and a writer.

‘Read it like you’d eat a melting ice cream.’ — Daisy Hildyard

‘The restraint, clarity and precision of the writing is faultless.’ — Joanna Walsh

‘This book is a sensory experience, saturated in sun and salt water, drenched in heat and longing.’ — Jessica Andrews

Kimberly Campanello’s publications include MOTHERBABYHOME, sorry that you were not moved and (S)worn State(s). She is Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds. Her latest poetry collection An Interesting Detail is published by Bloomsbury Poetry. Use the Words You Have is her first novel.

Tickets HERE

Like humans, there are many ways a sonnet can be. A traditional form rooted in Petrarch and Shakespeare, the sonnet has endured, is deployed and questioned by every era of poets. Its fourteen-line form gives structure to feeling and teaches us what we can do without, yet its mastery, rigidity and prominence has proved problematic for numerous writers.


This fundraiser workshop led by award-winning poet Tom Branfoot will look modern and contemporary experiments in the ‘little song’ by a diverse range of poets including Bernadette Mayer, Diane Seuss and Nat Raha. All ticket sales go toward  funding More Song, an innovative and experimental poetry reading series in Bradford.

Tickets HERE

Sunday Yoga at Hyde Park Book Club

Monthly Sunday yoga, spend your afternoon on the mat with me & stick around for coffee & treats at Hyde Park Book Club. a stunning Sunday!

open level vinyasa yoga class, everyone welcome :) from complete beginners to experienced yogis.

mats can be provided, however feel free to bring your own.
Liv X

Instagram @liv__moves 

Tickets HERE

Join us for an in-conversation with Gemma Styles. To talk about mental health and Gemma’s debut book ‘Why Am I Like This’. As part of Leeds Lit Festival.

Gemma Styles is a published author, award-winning podcaster, eyewear brand founder and mental health advocate with more than 14 million followers across her platforms including over 10 million on Instagram alone.

As the host of her award-winning podcast, Good Influence, Gemma invites discussion on topics that we should be familiar with, from mental health to sustainability and feminism. After three successful seasons, Good Influence won ‘Podcast of the Year’ at the 2022 Blogosphere Awards.

September 2024 saw the launch of Gemma’s debut book ‘Why Am I Like This?’. Published by Penguin, the book is an insightful, reassuring handbook for navigating the pressures and anxieties of modern life.

Gemma is also an ambassador for MQ Mental Health research.

Maddi Amos - The Poetic Off-Licence

The Poetic Off-Licence is a series of evenings held around Leeds celebrating community, culture and creativity. A project born when a few friends started writing poetry to each other across a quiet bar, The Poetic Off-Licence has been held in some of the best loved venues in the city, and showcased some of the most promising talent from Leeds and beyond. 

Maddi Amos is a poet and bartender from Newcastle, who started the project back in 2023 as a way to fundraise for top surgery for her friend Milo. Maddi is also one quarter of the Fruity Femmes, a bartending collective that champions women and queer people in hospitality. 

You can read Milo’s story and donate to his fundraiser through the link below:

https://gofund.me/f85f4e7f

Tickets HERE

Blur the Lines returns for a special event celebrating their 10th show since their very first one which took place at the inaugural Leeds Lit Fest.

Expect a night of powerful performances featuring poetry, rap and more! It’s been quite the journey, with two sold out shows at Leeds Playhouse plus an event in association with Come Play With Me, this year they’re also at Howard Assembly Room for Leeds Jazz Festival 2025.

Blur the Lines is curated and produced by the Leeds artist Lence, showcasing an array of creative talent from the city that blur genre lines and connect scenes.

Tickets HERE

SI Leeds Literary Prize is the biennial award for unpublished fiction by Black and Asian women writers.

A national award with proud Yorkshire roots, the Prize has supported the careers of many successful writers, including Bradford's Saima Mir, Kit de Waal, Mahsuda Snaith, Amita Murray, Season Butler and Stella Oni.

This year’s event will provide an opportunity to hear the 2024 shortlisted writers reading from their fantastic submissions, spanning a wide range of genres, time periods and countries, from dystopian fiction to short stories, and to talk about the challenges and opportunities for writers today.

Tickets HERE

Join the Northern Fiction Alliance and Hyde Park Book Club at the Summer Solstice Book Fair!

Drop in between 11am and 3pm to browse the latest books from the North's best indie publishers. They'll be selling everything from poetry to short stories, sci-fi to literary fiction, so pop along to find your new favourite book.

From 3.45pm onwards, settle in for some author readings, followed by networking drinks with the authors and publishers. The full list of participating publishers is as follows: Stairwell Books, Comma Press, Dead Ink, Confingo, Northodox Press, Carcanet and Saraband.

Tickets HERE

Joni two highly-acclaimed Yorkshire-based writers for an evening of conversation and performance. Andrew McMillan and Maria Ferguson are known primarily as poets. However, Andrew recently published the highly-acclaimed novel 'Pity', and Maria has written and performed two award-winning one-woman theatre shows.

Alongside conversations led by acclaimed poet Matt Abbott, Andrew and Maria will treat the audience to live performances of their work. Andrew has published three award-winning collections with Jonathan Cape, most recently 'pandemonium.' Maria's second collection, 'Swell', was published by Penguin in January.

LIVEwire Poetry is a Leeds-based national organisation specialising in live events and writer development.

Embodied Word fuses poetry, movement, and self-exploration, for a transformative workshop. Mary and Zac will guide you in reflective writing, somatic practices, and performance techniques for you to grow in confidence, self-awareness, and creative expression. Rooted in interdisciplinary influences – including spoken word, embodiment, Tantra, and psychology – this workshop fosters authentic connection and meaningful integration.

We encourage you to honour yourself and your comfort levels throughout, and while vulnerability is welcome you are always in control of how much you share.

Open to all experience levels, Embodied Word invites you to connect more deeply with your body, emotions, and artistic voice.

Tickets HERE

Join Christopher R. Moore (Leeds Poetry Festival Award 2023, Frances Browne Literary Festival Award 2024) for a short lecture on sports, A. E Housman, and the surprising importance of single-syllable words in poetry.

This will be followed by a workshop, which will explore setting, voice, and poetic structure through a series of unique and collaborative prompts.

You will also have the opportunity to perform and receive feedback on the poems created in this workshop. What Have You In Your Heart is designed to help you create cleaner, braver poetry.

Tickets HERE

In Wild Women Writing the North, author and poet Rachel Bower is in conversation with poet, academic and folklorist Professor Emily Zobel Marshall. Rachel will talk about, and read from, her debut novel It Comes from the River (Bloomsbury) as well as her new poetry collection, Bee (Hazel Press). Emily will share her insights and also read from her first poetry collection, Bath of Herbs (Peepal Tree Press).

Infused with the folklore of Northern England, It Comes from the River is an unforgettable, uncanny debut about violence, resilience and hope – and the power of women when they work together.

Bee features eighteen poems exploring the ancient and complicated relationship of help and harm between bees and humans, from Stone Age honey hunters to modern beekeepers.

Bath of Herbs explores the complexity of mixed-race, hybrid identities and relationships to the English and Welsh mountains, fells, rivers and shorelines from an ‘othered’, unmappable, positionality.

Rivers, bees, folklore and wild women. Now that's a combination you won't get anywhere else!

Tickets HERE

An exclusive event from Leeds Libraries and Hyde Park Book Club with two legendary grave dwellers who’ve written extensively on goth music and subculture, including Simon’s recent Curepedia and Everything, his extraordinary biography of the Manic Street Preachers; and John Robb's landmark history of goth, Art Of Darkness, published in 2023.

The event will feature both writers in conversation with writer, poet & musician Stu H and there may be a chance to hear some classic goth tunes too. Essential for anyone who wants to hide from the sun and indulge their dark side in the company of fellow doom-mongers.

Tickets HERE

Join us for an evening of pressure free creativity centered around zines. Zines are small press booklets and have been around since the 1930s as a method of people to communicate their passions, discuss their lives, and find a voice.

We’ll teach you how to make zines, and give you all the materials you need to fill them. Casual self expression in an encouraging environment.

Tickets HERE

Writers from the Leeds Arts University creative writing course will be sharing their work across poetry, prose and script. Hear from the next generation of Leeds writers. Our writers are already award-winning, have work published in literary magazines and national press, such as The Guardian. A wealth of new ideas and voices.

This performance also marks the start of Leeds Arts University's End of Year Show, which runs 16th - 21st June.

Tickets HERE

It’s back for a fifth year—bigger, better, and brainier than ever! Join us for this year’s Book Quiz, hosted by the fantastic Gary Wigglesworth!

Whether you’re a book lover, a quiz fanatic, or a literary trivia master, this night is packed with wit, challenge, and nonstop fun!

Our brilliant quizmaster, Gary Wigglesworth, author of The Book Lover’s Quiz Book: Novel Conundrums, and The Book Lover's Quiz Book 2: More Quizzes for Book Whizzes has been delighting quiz fans for years at the legendary Betsey Trotwood in central London. And as a true Yorkshireman, he’s more than ready for the challenge!

Don’t miss out on an evening of clever questions, great company, and bookish brilliance

Tickets HERE

Join us for a captivating evening for 'That's What She Said: Words of Wild Women', a powerful performance of female voices each with their own story to tell. This event promises to showcase an inspiring collection of heartfelt and courageous poetry that explores themes of self-discovery, trauma, re-birth and resilience. Prepare to be moved by their profound expressions of strength and passion as they celebrate the beauty of being outspoken and, most importantly, fearless. 

Tickets for this event are free but donations would be welcome on the evening, with all proceeds going to the event's chosen charity, Refuge (refuge.org.uk), who support women and children by providing specialist support for those experiencing domestic violence, and is a charity close to the hearts of all our performers. 

We hope you won't want to miss this inspiring event filled with empowering stories and words. 

Tickets HERE

We’re kicking off the summer with poetry at everyone’s favourite brunch spot in Hyde Park. Join LPF at Leeds Lit Fest for ‘Bards do Brunch’ for a chance to share your poetry over breakfast, coffee or pastry in the Snug at Hyde Park Book Club.

This is a ticketed event with a sign-up for anyone who wants to read some of their latest work in the comfort of fellow poets. Bring a notebook for the breaks, get advice from others, and share your thoughts on the poems you hear.

Brunch is not included in the ticket price.

Brunch is not included in the ticket price.

SLSEFundraiser is a group aiming to raise £1.8k to go towards raising money for scholarships, so secondary students and young adults in Sierra Leone are able to afford to go to university. Many poorer working class Sierra Leoneans currently struggle to gather the Leones (Currency of Sierra Leone) needed to go to university, which means many students may be unable to properly complete a full childhood of education and have access to significant opportunities.

To try and solve this, SLSEFundraiser is holding a clothing sale to raise money for our project. From 10am - 4pm we will be selling a wide variety of different garments, Mens and Womens Clothing, preloved clothing, Trainers and Stickers all for great affordable prices! All profits made during this sale will go directly towards contributing to the current scholarship pot or towards ensuring more future sales can happen. More information can be found on our Instagram @Slsefundraiser and we hope to see you on the 7th of June.

Tickets HERE

Femme Fatale Faerytales (Adult Storytelling) Presents: Once Upon a Time (Fringe Preview ahead of her Fringe Debut)

Come meet a real-life faery

It was the faeries who taught the witches, the wise women, all that they know. Women spun faerytales on their tongue to spread the word among adult ears. Wise words made infantile by men.

Come meet a real-life Faery. Let her whisper her words into your ears. Hear her tale of truth. For it’s true, faeries cannot lie. This, I promise you.

This faery has a story that’ll make your hair curl and your eyes sparkle. She’ll change you, transport you, introduce you to a whole new world and show you a view brand new.

"Captivating storytelling with a feminist agenda." - Grand Opera House York

Get your FREE ticket HERE

Join us for the ‘Hyde Park Stitch Club’ social! ✨

Come together with fellow crafters for a cozy evening of knitting, crocheting, sewing and embroidery etc.
Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, all are welcome! 🌸🧶

Wednesday 27th April
7PM - 9PM

Art Soace/Bar Area
Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds, LS6 1BL

Just bring your current project and meet us there — no experience required!

This is a free, friendly space for creativity and community. 🙌
Hosted by: @knittedbykee & @laurablackwell

See you there! 💕✨

Tickets HERE

A fusion of poetry, embodiment, and self-exploration to deepen self-connection, creative expression, and sensual awareness.

Join us on a transformative 8-part journey. Each session, we’ll explore a new aspect of sensuality, emotional openness, and expressive freedom - rooted in spoken word and tantric-inspired embodiment practices. We’ll journey through the chakras (from Root to Crown and beyond), learning to embrace and refine our unique voices. By the end, you’ll have cultivated a meaningful piece of poetic performance to showcase, celebrating your unfolding authenticity.

FREE ENTRY JUST TURN UP
Preview and first release alongside a visual installation and launch party celebrating our newest limited collection. The new release will be available at the event, alongside a special announcement.

Tickets HERE

Join Jess for an all-levels yoga flow at Hyde Park Book Club.

Mats provided but feel free to bring your own

£5 / £4 students

All welcome including total beginners :)

Instagram @yog.raga

Tickets HERE

An immersive show of sound and light.
See the art, hear it right.
Feel Chopin's world, both deep and bright.

Tickets HERE

Are you Summer ready? Got some festivals, parties or gigs coming up through the sunny months? Join Little Crafty Crafts by Leeds Indie Market for their first instalment of the ‘summer ready’ series of workshops they’re hosting this summer!

Make 2 pairs of festival sunnies! Whether you want to coordinate two of your planned outfits or make matchy pairs for you and the bestie, we’ll be providing everything you need to craft your perfect summer accessories!

Choose from glasses in different styles and colours and go nuts with their HUGE collection of gorgeous embellishments, rhinestones, beads and more. Everything you need will be provided to make your new sunnies a work of art!

Still level: Easy Peasy, you just need a steady hand!
Suitable for; Someone looking to craft their own summer accessories. People who like to stand out in the crowd. Besties looking for a morning crafty date.

Tickets are available now via Eventbrite.

Free Just Turn Up

Twenty years after the original festival, SITUATION LEEDS: Contemporary Artists and the Public Realm returns. 

We’ll be reigniting conversations about public art and artist-led activity in Leeds — how we work in public space, how we shape the city, and how we might collaborate to imagine what comes next. 

CHATSHOW, is a new programme of open events, workshops and conversations, reconnecting artists, organisers and the public through memory, sharing ideas, and laying the groundwork for what comes next. 

These events will be organic, open, and discussion-led. 

We’d love for you to join us as part of CHATSHOW, and build for next years festival: https://linktr.ee/situationleeds