Tramlines’ 10th Birthday

Tramlines Festival has increasingly become a part of Sheffield’s identity. It’s a living organism which continues to grow and pump energy through the city, spreading its tentacles far and wide to ensure that more venues, artists and parks are included. But 2018 was particularly special as Tramlines pulled out all the stops to celebrate hitting the big 1-0. In order to celebrate properly, the heart of the festival moved to Hillsborough Park to accommodate 30,000 festivalgoers and some massive acts across four stages. Once again, it was a resounding success and a testament to the grafters behind our favourite annual bash.

 

Doc/Fest 2018

This year marked the 25th edition of Sheffield Doc/Fest, the UK’s biggest documentary festival and the third largest of its kind in the world. For their silver anniversary, Luke Moody curated a varied selection of documentaries which addressed a number of contemporary and controversial topics. A world premiere of Sean McAllister’s ‘A Northern Soul’ opened the event and set the bar for what was to follow. On top of showcasing state of the art cinematography, this year’s event also offered various alternate reality experiences and live music scores to accompany screenings. Another highlight included discussions and talks by guest speakers such as Sir Trevor McDonald, transgender model and activist Munroe Bergdorf, and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Matthew Heineman to talk about mental health, gender equality and filmmaking.

 

Public Winning Observer Best Place to Drink in UK 

Less than a year after opening, classy subterranean cocktail bar Public was named as the best place to drink in the UK at the prestigious Observer Food Monthly Awards. It’s fair to say that the venue offers something different: situated below Sheffield’s Town Hall in the former 19th century gent’s toilets, it’s a cosy drinking den boasting plenty of character. The menu is similarly innovative, categorised into themes, incorporating local ingredients and using sustainability as a key influence.

 

Exposed Awards 

The annual Exposed Awards ceremony is always a big do, celebrating the very best of Sheffield’s local businesses and giving well-deserved pats on the back to the people behind them. This year’s sell-out event was held in a new venue at 92 Burton Road (home to Peddler Night Market), which was decked out in Great Gatsby themed décor and soon filled with plenty of swarve looking characters. The evening got off to a very civilised start with a live swing band and a delicious selection of street food, but soon descended into a raucous affair, followed by memorable afterparties at The Old Workshop and of course, The Great Gatsby.

 

Pride Sheffield

The LGBT+ community has been rapidly growing in Sheffield over the past few years, culminating in the opening of the city’s first ever Gay Quarter earlier this year. This paved the way for Sheffield Pride 2018 (formerly known as South Yorkshire Pride), when, on 4 July, over 6,000 revellers made their way down Ecclesall Road and into Endcliffe Park for the biggest Pride event held to date.

 

No Bounds Festival

After the success of the festival’s launch back in 2017, No Bounds Festival returned in 2018 with a stellar line-up. The music and arts festival put on a huge spread of cultural delicacies over the course of the chilly October weekend, including: talks, film screenings, poetry, sound installations, improvised music and abstract visual work. Highlights included