News

A tribute to a legendary Leeds gig venue which hosted iconic acts Oasis and Nirvana is taking centre stage in a celebration of 60 years of the city’s music scene.

The Duchess of York on Vicar Lane, popularly known as The Duchess, was the setting for performances by some of the biggest names in rock and pop before closing its doors in 2000.

Now an impressive recreation of the historic pub is part of Music Leeds Us at Leeds City Museum, which looks back on six decades of unique musical heritage.

Museums in Leeds have secured almost a million pounds in funding to help safeguard their future and support a series of transformational projects at historic sites across the city.

Leeds Museums and Galleries have today been awarded a total of £952,000 following a successful bid for a share of the Museum Renewal Fund distributed by Arts Council England.

Families in Leeds will have a chance to meet the festive season’s favourite couple as Lotherton’s spectacular Christmas Experience returns.

Tickets are now on sale for the award-winning family-friendly attraction, which this year will give visitors an opportunity to meet Santa, Mrs Claus and their elves as part of one sparkling seasonal package.

Stunning new murals paying tribute to some of the city’s sporting heroes past and present have been unveiled in communities across Leeds.

The colourful artworks have been created by local artists as part of a landmark project celebrating the accomplishments of competitors including a record-busting swimmer and a legendary Leeds Paralympian.

Spiders weaving their way into homes across the country this autumn are out “looking for love” museum experts in Leeds have revealed.

With eight-legged visitors currently a more frequent sight for residents around the UK, curators at the Leeds Discovery Centre have taken the chance to study their impressive collection of amazing arachnids while busting some myths and misconceptions about spider season.

An intricate model ship carved from bone by a French prisoner during the Napoleonic Wars is among a fleet of maritime miniatures making waves at a Leeds museum.

Delicately crafted more than 200 years ago from what is believed to be whalebone, the incredible replica recreates in extraordinary detail a magnificent three-masted ship.

A new exhibition celebrating the work of the city’s authors, poets, playwrights and scriptwriters is proving a real page-turner for visitors to a Leeds museum.

Literature in Leeds at Kirkstall’s Abbey House Museum showcases objects, memorabilia and personal stories which have inspired a generation of modern-day writers to create works enjoyed by audiences around the world.

A fascinating archive of historic treasures charting centuries of the city’s industrial heritage has been revealed during a painstaking cataloguing project at a Leeds museum.

Kittens driving cranes, beautiful vintage Christmas cards and an image of a Leeds branch of the Home Guard are among the remarkable array of objects which have been rediscovered at Leeds Industrial Museum.

Leeds Art Gallery is giving the city’s young art lovers something to shout about this summer by joining a campaign encouraging kids to express themselves during special “shush-free” events.

The gallery will be taking part in Kids Aloud, a popular initiative from Art Fund, the national charity for museums and galleries, by inviting children to be lively and energetic in the gallery space.

The skeletal remains of a giant bird which last walked the earth more than 500 years ago have been given a clean bill of health by museum curators in Leeds.

The incredibly rare and complete bones of the heavy-footed moa, a huge flightless bird which once roamed parts of New Zealand, were carefully cleaned by experts at Leeds City Museum this week.

The city’s council-run museums and galleries have given a massive £47.3m boost to the local economy over the past year, new figures have revealed.

The latest economic impact report compiled by Leeds Museums and Galleries sets out the remarkable figures, with the service’s eight sites also welcoming an impressive 939,494 people in the same period.

The cringeworthy costumes and embarrassing outfits endured by children through the ages will come to light in a fashion-focused event in Leeds this week.

During a special talk at Lotherton, visitors will have the chance to hear about the timeless trend of dressing children like adults for family pictures, while seeing first-hand some of the more unusual results inflicted on infants for more than 500 years.