In a unique partnership, festival organisers LeedsBID (Leeds Business Improvement District), The Tetley and developer and land owner Vastint UK are collaborating to create a cultural hub in this iconic city centre location.

Leeds International Festival returns to the city for the third year from 2nd -12th May, with a programme packed with global creators, thinkers, speakers and performers sharing the stage with homegrown creative talent from Leeds’ rich cultural community.

This year’s festival, L19, will bring The Tetley site to life with an eclectic array of events and performances over a 10-day period; many specially commissioned as the result of an open call process introduced for this year’s programming.

The Village will be situated in front of the stunning art deco headquarters of the former Tetley Brewery and will house an impressive 20m temporary event structure (The L19 Cube @ the Village) surrounded by food and drink pop-ups. It will host gigs, conferences, talks and family friendly events, with big names on the bill already announced including Frank Bruno MBE, Matt Haig, Professor Alice Roberts, Dr John Cooper Clarke, Tommy Cash, and Crazy P.

Events announced for the Village so far include:

• BlaqueXplosion feat. Frank Bruno MBE, Jermain Jackman and JoJo Feel the noise of Black Britain in a day of exploration and celebration.
• What does it mean to be Human?(developed in partnership with Leeds Beckett University) with Professor Alice Roberts, Matt Haig, Gelong Thubten and Simon Anholt: What does it mean to be human? Have we forgotten? Did we ever know? Explore this question with a series of talks in four fascinating events, looking at biology and our past, how to maximise our humanity in today’s world and contemplating how to aspire to be better in the future.
• Dr John Cooper Clarke: The Luckiest Guy Alive Listen to new material from The Luckiest Guy Alive alongside the old classics, with special guest poets Toria Garbutt and Mike Garry.
• Crazy P (live) + Friends English electronica favourites Crazy P (plus some stellar talent in support) bring their shimmering, soulful underground disco to Leeds International Festival for Leeds’ only date, on the back of their recent record release.
• Juicebox with Tommy Cash and Yves Tumor JUICEBOX presents some of the most urgent and transgressive humans working in music today.

More info and tickets on sale at www.leedsinternationalfestival.com