Leeds Lowdown: What’s on in November & December 2026

Yes, it’s that time already. We’re heading into November, and in just a couple of weeks festive events will start to twinkle to life around Leeds. This month’s Lowdown eases you into November’s chilly days and dark nights and looks ahead to December, with a few things to bookmark in the run-up to Christmas.

Festivals and events

Celebrating its 40th year, Leeds International Film Festival continues on until 15 November across venues from Hyde Park Picture House to Everyman Leeds. There’s still time to catch Ultimate Thunder, a documentary shot in Leeds about a punk band whose members have learning disabilities; Wicker, with Olivia Colman as a fisherwoman who commissions a husband made of willow; and heartbreaking high-school indie drama Mouse. Find full listings here.

If you’re thinking about an event that lights up the sky rather than the big screen, though, you won’t have to look far for a local bonfire night celebration. Wrap up warm for family-friendly fireworks at The Beck and Call in Meanwood on 5 November. Two sessions run from 3:30 pm til 6 pm and from 6 pm until close. Alwoodley Cricket Club and Moortown Rugby Club are both running events on Saturday the 7th. They do sell out, so get booking if you want to go.

For foodies, Leeds Big Vegan Market at Left Bank runs from 11 am to 4 pm on 1 November. It’s a plant-based food-lover’s paradise, with street food, indulgent comfort eats, wholesome, nourishing favourites, plus artisan products and handcrafted goods, and it’s just £3 entry.

Continuing the Leeds 400 celebrations, 400 Years of Leeds, through the collections of Leeds Museums and Galleries, takes you through Leeds’ history at the City Library on 5 November between 1 and 2 pm. It’s free, but you’ll need to book.

Note: Regular November fixture, Live at Leeds in the City, is on hiatus this year as the team prepares for its big 20th birthday in 2027.

Live music

first direct bank arena has a busy month ahead with back-to-back variety. Indie-rock icons Courteeners are first up on 6 November, with Irish pop giants The Script returning on 10 November. Later in the month, you’ve got Squeeze (with Billy Bragg) on 20 November, Jungle on 21 November and Fontaines D.C. on 24 November.

At Howard Assembly Room, Spotlight Unsigned is a brand-new grassroots music initiative, created in partnership with Play One We Know (POWK), designed to put emerging, unsigned independent artists centre stage. Catch the launch night on November 19, featuring Burgz, a musician and producer who blends classic hip-hop with a distinctly Northern perspective. It’s a recurring event that’s well worth adding to your diary…

Elsewhere, the Brudenell Social Club welcomes futurist collective Ibibio Sound Machine on 20 and 21 November, and the Old Woollen in Farsley hosts The Dolly Show on 13 November, featuring Kelly O’Brien, the world’s number one Dolly Parton tribute endorsed by the Parton family.

Comedy

Bill Bailey brings his brand-new live show Vaudevillean to the first direct bank arena on 28 November, and Scottish stand-up Kevin Bridges is in town on 19 November for his Here if You Need Me tour. 

Over at the Glee Club, Hannah East’s new comedy show Express Yourself on 5 November hilariously captures the madness of parenting, while Jo Lycett returns on 17 November to trial new material with a bunch of other comics. Award-winner Fatiha El-Ghorri closes out the month with Cockney Stacking Doll on 29 November. 

At City Varieties, Jason Byrne’s 30th Anniversary show, 30 Years Byrning, on November 6, or, at the other end of the spectrum, opt for the sharp-tongued new stand-up routine With Feeling from the critically acclaimed musical-comedy sister duo Flo and Joan on 8 November.

BAFTA-winning actor, comedian, director and writer Richard Ayoade appears at Leeds Grand on 2 December with Afterthoughts – a reservoir of thoughts so refreshing you may never need to think again.

Theatre

This November, Broadway’s crowning glory, SIX, makes its royal return to Leeds Grand from 3 to 7 November; it’s best booked now, while everyone’s favourite 90s nanny, Mrs Doubtfire, takes over from 10 to 29 November. 

Music, magic and hypnotism light up the stage with House of Fun at Leeds Grand Theatre on 1 November (featuring music from Madness, The Beat, The Specials and more),  James Phelan: The Man Who Was Magic on 3 November at City Varieties and Andrew Newton: The Hypnotist Live! on 14 November.

There’s a huge festive series on too. At the Playhouse, Dr Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas is the family pick between 19 November and 16 January, while Leeds GIANT traditional family panto,  Jack and the Beanstalk, at the Carriageworks runs from 20 November to 3 January, with Kevin Sinfield in the cast. From 27 November to 10 January, City Varieties runs Rapunzel: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto, with actor-musicians performing live. 

It doesn’t stop there. For festive entertainment that’s not strictly for the kids, catch Step into Christmas, the feel-good Christmas concert spectacular, at Leeds Grand on 4 December; The Red Shoes: A Festive Fairytale by Wrongsemble between 15 and 19 December; and Christmas Carol Goes Wrong between 8 and 12 December.

This year, Opera North presents Home Alone in Concert on 13 December, and Northern Ballet presents Cinderella on 15 December, both at Leeds Grand. Yep. There’s loads to fill your diary.

Christmas: holidays are coming

The Leeds Christmas Market is back in City Square this year, with a brand new look for 2026, running from 19 November to 23 December. Alongside 60 retailers, local street food and live music, the ever-popular Ice Cube slides back into Millennium Square, THOR’S Highland Lodge is once again the full-on festive retreat you know and love, and Folie Apres Ski Bar is a brand-new venue on Quebec Street with bookable Snow Globe pods. Time to get merry? We think so.

Christmas beyond the city centre

As ever, the big houses around Leeds are gearing up to create festive magic for all the family: 

• Northern Lights: The Lost Light of Christmas lights up Temple Newsam’s grounds from 20 November to 31 December, with immersive visuals and jaw-dropping illuminations. Don’t forget your camera! 

•  At Harewood, Magic at the Mansion runs from 6 November to 3 January in partnership with Studio McQuire (think talking furniture, cheeky presents and choral surprises), with the Little Bird  Winter Artisan Market on 6 to 8 and 27 to 29 November. 

• Lotherton Hall’s Christmas Experience starts on 21 November and runs for six glittering weeks to 3 January, bringing the 12 Days of Christmas to life in fine style.

• At Kirkstall Abbey, the Following Yonder Star trail runs from 29 November to 24 December, a family-friendly wander through twinkling, sparkling, twirling stars on a give-what-you-can basis. 

Christmas craft workshops

Indoor activities for all the family include:  A Very Pom Pom Christmas, which opens at Leeds Industrial Museum on 1 December and runs to 3 January. Follow the pom pom trail, get stuck into collage Christmas card making and enjoy a festive mystery matinee at the Palace Picture House, the museum’s 1920s cinema. Sparky Saturdays at the M&S Archive hosts its Christmas Crafternoon on 14 November between 10 am and 4 pm. Free light refreshments are included, and there’s no need to book – just drop in; it’s all free.

For adult craft sessions that get you in the spirit, try: 

• Willow star wreath-making at Temple Newsam from 11 to 18 November, with more wreath sessions from 25 November to 16 December. Gather by a cosy fire in the Joiner’s Shop and create a beautiful handmade wreath. £30 per person.

• At Abbey House Museum, 2-hour beginners’ festive lino printing workshops run on 30 November, and felt Christmas decoration-making runs on 26 November. Both sessions cost £15 and include seasonal refreshments.