Amid the Saturday bustle of Leeds, the aromas streaming from Belgrave Music Hall offered a respite from the long-awaited sun. Following on from the success of their first Street Feast, Belgrave opened its doors for a free day of food, music, arts and crafts. Along with the permanent Dough Boys Pizza and Patty Smith’s burgers, visitors were treated to many other independent vendors from across the North.

The upstairs room hosted arts and record stalls and TV screens around what is normally the stage, with music playing until 2am. The rooftop garden was also a hit, with crowds enjoying the sun and films on the big screen. The selection of local brews, including those from Magic Rock Brewing, Maui Brewing Co., Kirkstall Brewery and Ilkley Brewery, was popular with the visitors, young and old. In few venues could you expect the crowd to be quite so varied; from hairy bikers, to Edgy Boy Leeds lookalikes, to five year old princesses. The place welcomed one and all.

My companion and I treated ourselves to Diamond Dogs, gourmet style hotdogs from Manchester. BBQ shredded beef? Jalapeno cheese? You name it, they could serve it up and you could bet that it would blow your mind. Never satisfied with one meal, we also indulged in a slice of Dough Boys Pizza. And if the maudlin name ‘Baa No More’ isn’t enough to put you off a lamb pizza then you’re in for a slice of heaven. If the selection of savoury food seemed overwhelming you only had to look to Noisette Bakehouse, which boasted a rich selec- tion of cakes, tarts, brownies and preserves. The one regret? Not get- ting a chance to try Fu-Schnickens steamed pork buns, the selection of Middle Eastern fare from Papa Ganoush, and everything else for that matter.

All in all, the event was a definite success and a fabulous way to promote independent vendors and place Belgrave Music Hall firmly at the centre of Leeds life. If there’s one way to solidify a venue in your mind, great food and music is certainly it.

You can see our LSi review of Belgrave as a music venue here 

Anastasia Kennedy