Leeds as a city is well-known for hosting music festivals – and, later this month, the Live At Leeds In The Park festival will take place at Temple Newsham.
Let’s take a look at the history behind this. The Leeds Festival which is held every year at Bramham Park is among the biggest weekends of the festival calendar – pulling in massive names and attracting crowds of over 100,000 every year.
However, the city has also gained a reputation for hosting smaller music festivals and gigs such as the Live at Leeds shows which take place over the summer in Millennium Square and, more recently, Live At Leeds In The Park.
In 2023, Leeds will host both the metropolitan version of the festival – where shows take places at different venues dotted around the city centre in October – as well as the one in the park next week on Saturday, May 27 at Temple Newsham park.
The line-up
The year’s line-up of the festival contains a swash of household indie rock artists, such as Northern Irish band Two Door Cinema Club – who will be headlining on the Cockpit stage – DMA’s, The Hives, The Lathums and Tom Walker, as well as other smaller artists including Kate Nash, Everything Everything and Black Honey.
Kate Hannah, 21, from Leeds, a regular festival-goer who will be attending the event for the first time, expressed her excitement at going, saying: “I’m really excited for it because the line-up looks fantastic this year.
“I listen to a lot of the bands on the roster such as The Lathums and DMA’S so it will be great to see them live for the first time on the same day.
“Two Door Cinema Club are always amazing live as well and you can’t go wrong seeing them at a festival, so I’m really up for seeing them as well.”
The venue
The previously-mentioned Temple Newsham is the regular venue for the festival’s location and has served so since the creation of Live At Leeds In The Park.
The park also hosts many other events and festivals. In 2019, it became the host of the Slam Dunk music festival and, since then, it has hosted ‘Newsham Park’ which used to be known as Cocoon In The Park, run by the organisers behind the Mint Warehouse.
It was also the location of the well-known Leeds Festival between 1999 and 2002, until the event moved to Bramham Park.
On how strong the venue is for hosting events, music fan Callum Allan, 22, from Stoke, said: “I’ve been to a few events and festivals at Temple Newsham as well as just going there when it’s just a regular park.
“It’s a really nice place with a big open grassland which makes it perfect for concerts and festivals, as you can get lots of people in which makes for a great atmosphere.
“Leeds crowds are always the best crowds as well, so I can’t wait for Live At Leeds because the atmosphere will be unmatched.”
Tickets
General admission tickets are still available at £66, while under-5s go for free and are available to be purchased here.
