Get involved in creative activities.
The activities include a range of workshops, demonstrations, and performances. Activities are listed in venue number order.
To view the venue information, click on the venue link. Find the location on the 2025 Art Trail map.
Please note that some participatory activities may include a small charge.
For all activities, children must be accompanied by an adult before they can take part.
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Workshops
Portrait drawing taster session
Venue 8 – 76 Morris Lane
Saturday 19 July, 11 am to 12 pm
● £10 including all materials
● Age 16+
Introduction to portrait drawing with Leeds Drawing Club tutor, Ellie Andrews. Working with a model, you will learn the basics of portrait drawing.
Venue 13 – St Stephen’s Primary School
Saturday 19 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● Free / donation to artist
● No age restrictions
Artist Gigi will guide you in this relaxing activity, how to create your own colourful mandalas using a mix of mediums.
Venue 13 – St Stephen’s Primary School
Saturday 19 July, 11 am to 5 pm
Sunday 20 July, 12 pm to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● Free / donation to artist
● No age restrictions
Create paper animal masks with artist Belle Bonson. With inspiration from the wildlife living in and around the Kirkstall Valley.
Venue 13 – St Stephen’s Primary School
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 1 pm to 4 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
Join artist Hannah Simister to create a mixed-media landscape using collage, drawing, and found materials.
Venue 14 – St Stephen’s Church Hall
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● £4.50 (including all materials)
● No age restrictions
Artist Alex Blakey will show you how to make your own unique wood-based pendants and artworks. Exploring how to work with reclaimed materials, pens, and natural inks.
Venue 14 – St Stephen’s Church Hall
Friday 18 July at 7.30 pm
● £12
● Age 18+
An introduction to improvised storytelling. This Improv workshop is led by Mel Taylor, from Playful Being.
Venue 21 – Queenswood Social Club
Saturday 19 July, 1 pm and 3 pm
● £5 children and £12 adults
● Sessions last two hours
● No age restrictions
Unleash your inner artist. Take It Easel offers expert tutelage alongside nibbles, chat, and music in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.
Venue 21 – Queenswood Social Club
Saturday 19 July, 12 pm to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● Free / from £2
● No age restrictions
Free art games for all visitors to join in with. Plus an Arts & Crafts corner with a range of crafting opportunities suitable for children – from £2. All set in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.
Venue 22 – Kirkstall Educational Cricket Club
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
Join the artists at Kirkstall Cricket Club and create your own prints using gelli plates. A simple process and a fun way to create art.
Colourful Recycled Embellishments
Venue 33B – Hollybush
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● £5 (including all materials)
● No age restrictions
In this workshop, artist Jessica Grady will show you how to create a small stitched textile piece on fabric or card with zero-waste recycled embellishments.
Venue 33B – Hollybush
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● £5 (including all materials)
● No age restrictions
Paint flowers with guidance from botanical artist Poppy-Lee Jennings. With fresh flowers to draw from, you will create your own composition using watercolours.
Demonstrations
Venue 1 – 70 Vesper Road
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm (on the hour from 11 am)
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
Ceramicist Lizzie Fry will demonstrate ‘throwing’ on the pottery wheel and show some of the techniques she uses to create her products.
Venue 5A – Kirkstall Abbey
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 4 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● Demonstration – no age restrictions
● Activity – ages 18+
The West Riding Stonecarving Association will demonstrate the art of hand carving stone. There is the opportunity to give it a try yourself.
Venue 9 – 72 Morris Lane
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
The artist Imminent Nostalgia will demonstrate the free software ‘Inkscape’ showing you how to create vector art.
Venue 14 – St Stephen’s Church Hall
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
Artist Nicola Bell creates needle felt and textile puppets. Visitors can watch her process and learn more about her craft as she demonstrates different techniques.
Venue 16 – 19 Hesketh Road
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● Free / cost for drawings
● No age restrictions
● Weather permitting
Artist Jeanne-Louise Moys will demonstrate impromptu line drawing. You will have the option to purchase these unique drawings.
Live Street Art & Mural Painting
Venue 20 – Vicarage Terrace Underpass
From Wednesday 16 July to Sunday 20 July
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
Two large murals will be taking shape on Vicarage Terrace. Watch street artists and mural painters transform the underpass and an end of terrace house.
Venue 24 – 6 Victoria Terrace
Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
Artist Tim Gomersall shows how he creates his atmospheric and playful paintings using pen, ink, and watercolour.
Activities
Venue 4 – Kirkstall Abbey Park
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
Step through the rainbow with artist Christine Hinchliffe’s colourful installation. Don’t forget to collect your gold.
Venue 5A – Kirkstall Abbey
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 4 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
Photographer Mark Hinchcliffe invites you to step inside and experience the camera obscura. This ‘magical box’ captures the outside world and is where photography had its beginnings.
Venue 13 – St Stephen’s Primary School
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● 15 to 30 minutes for game play time
● Free
● No age restrictions
Join artist, Lawrence Rippingale to try out Restless Spirits, a brand new board game that he has co-designed with Amy Conway.
Venue 13 – St Stephen’s Primary School
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 1 pm to 2.45 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
Watch, as artist Stephen Griffiths demonstrates his printing skills. Between 2 pm and 2.45 pm both days, there will be an opportunity to try out this activity and create your own print.
Venue 28 – Eden Crescent
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
● There is no parking for cars
Step into the garden in full bloom, take a seat, and capture what you see. You will also have the opportunity to learn about the trees and plants.
Venue 32 – Kirkstall Bridge
Saturday 19 July, 12 pm to 3 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
Respond to prompts and help decorate Kirkstall Bridge with a chalk mural! This will spark ideas for a mural design that We Belong Here will paint in 2026.
Venue 33C – Hollybush
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in. Visitors will be given a time slot when a queue forms.
● PAYF
● No age restrictions
Visitors are invited to sit for their portrait. Artist and illustrator N Hui will draw you in her unique storytelling style, for you to take home.
Venue 33D – Hollybush
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
Based on Kerry Murphy’s poem, ‘This Part of Town’, add your own ‘love lines’ to the map, showing the emotional landscape of Kirkstall and West Leeds.
Various venues
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Pick up your booklet from the Information Point and other venues on the trail
● Free
● No age restrictions
The Kirkstall Art Trail ‘scavenger hunt’ will take you on a journey to visit artists and places all around the trail to collect the stamps. Can you find them all?
Poetry Trail
Across Leeds
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July and beyond
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
Poems were sent to us by the public and they can now be found in locations around Kirkstall. You can find out where with the Poetry Trail map.
Performances
Venue 5C – Kirkstall Abbey
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 4 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
GlenTheMaker curates a live performance lasting about 5 to 10 minutes. Repeated several times throughout the weekend.
Venue 5D – Kirkstall Abbey
Saturday 19 July at 2 pm
● Unticketed – just turn up
● Free
● No age restrictions
The 2025 annual fashion show. Watch the amazing designs showcased on the catwalk. Meet the makers and designers after the show.
Venue 5D – Kirkstall Abbey
Saturday 20 July at 2 pm
● Unticketed – just turn up
● Free
● No age restrictions
A big hit for our inaugural show in 2024, we are pleased to welcome talented dancers from across Leeds to open this year’s fashion show.
Venue 5D – Kirkstall Abbey
Sunday 20 July at 2 pm
● Unticketed – just turn up
● Free
● No age restrictions
In a Kirkstall Art Trail hip-hop first, we are welcoming Bust-A-Move. This is a seven minute performance, so be sure to bear witness, as they, “escape the room!”
Venue 6 – 80 Morris Lane
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, with perfomances at 12 pm and 3 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
Watch artist Paul Heaney perform poetry accompanied by a short art film shown on a loop throughout the day.
Venue 12 – 6 Vesper Terrace
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● Free
● No age restrictions
‘Shire Oak’ (13 minutes) explores the long 1,500 years history of the tree that once stood in Headingley.
Venue 14 – St Stephen’s Church Hall
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July, 11 am to 5 pm
● Drop-in
● £15 (or PAYF)
● No age restrictions
Watch Molly Ovenden compose a personalised poem for you on her typewriter. Once it’s complete, she will also perform the poem for you.
Venue 21 – Queenswood Social Club
Saturday 19 July, 7 pm to 9 pm
● Unticketed – just turn up
● Free
● No age restrictions
Join us for an evening of poetry and spoken-word performances. ‘Poetry Trail’ poets will read us their poems, plus visitors have the chance to perform in the open mic.