Festival of the Outdoors kicks off with paddleboarding event
Sheffield's Festival of the Outdoors set sail this Saturday with the “perfect weather” for the first event, a stand-up paddleboarding workshop.
The annual festival returned to Sheffield, also known as Britain's outdoor city, with events running throughout March. This weekend, DC Outdoors invited locals to connect with nature with their paddleboarding session.
As this was the first event of the month, the organisers experienced a lower turnout than expected with two participants in the morning session, and two in the afternoon. However, the company is hopeful for more participants in their upcoming events.
Ruby, one of the attendees believes that outdoor activities are an important form of self care.
She said: “I moved to Sheffield thinking I will go to the Peaks every weekend, but that didn’t happen so when there’s an opportunity like this, I just take it.”
DC Outdoors is an organisation offering various forms of adventure activities like stand-up paddleboarding, rock climbing, and weaselling. The organisation has been working with Welcome to Sheffield for five years, on small-scale activities.
Dan Crawford, the representative of DC Outdoors said: “The Festival of the Outdoors is a great advertising opportunity for us to bring in a wider audience, and start off the season.”
He believes that outdoor activities help people come out and enjoy nature, and their organisation helps do that in a responsible way which is also sustainable.
There are various outdoor activities set for this coming weekend with an outdoor climbing experience on 8 March, and another paddleboarding event on 9 March. Several other events, like a beer festival, guided walks and a pollen market, are scheduled during the month to celebrate the return of warmer weather.
Dorothy Pax closure another loss for live music in Sheffield
Post updated on Wednesday 05/03/2025 after news regarding Dorothy Pax
Live music venue the Dorothy Pax has announced its immediate closure today, the second to close its doors in Sheffield in two weeks.
In a statement on Instagram, the venue says it has "exhausted every possible avenue over the last year or so to keep on going", but that keeping its doors open has become impossible.
The Dorothy Pax's situation isn't unusual, however. Over 40% of grassroots venues in the UK are losing money, according to figures from the Music Venue Trust.
These costs are weighing on Sheffield’s live music scene, which has already seen two blows recently with the Leadmill set for eviction and the closure of nightclub Hope Works in February.
Venues are facing a squeeze on income amidst rising costs of living, as well as greater expenses through business rates and higher national insurance contributions coming in April.
While the blame is often laid at the feet of poor management, Maurice Champeau, General Manager at Crookes Social Club, thinks this is only a small part of the problem.
He guesses the amount having this issue is “about 20%”, but stresses the need of venues to adapt, with the Social Club hosting comedy nights as well as letting rooms out for functions.
He said: “We've had to look internally at ourselves at all music venues and say, how can I best make this work?
"People's ability to spend cash is reducing year on year. So, we've got to make it more justifiable for people to spend the money on tickets. How can I make it productive?”
One widely discussed issue is the growing chasm between smaller and larger venues.
Ticketmaster owner Live Nation made £17.8 Billion in revenues across 2023, a year that saw 125 grassroots venues close, a 13% decrease.
Mr Champeau believes that rift is only getting larger, and Jacob Kendrew and Scarlet Bishop of the band Flat Moon agree.
With medium sized venues often paying as little as £50 to supporting bands, the step up from smaller venues is near impossible. Combined with smaller margins from ticket sales, growth is harder than ever for artists; Hawley jokes that the band is “essentially a t-shirt selling company”
Discussing how little money there is in grassroots music, Bishop says the issue is endemic.
“This isn't sustainable, and we just accept that, everyone accepts it as if that’s just the case. That’s not going to be able to keep happening.
“It’s going to become so underground that you can’t find any new artists.”
This is no small worry for the UK’s music industry.
Whilst the band describe independent and ‘commercial’ music as two separate industries, the latter is dependent on the former to produce new talent.
English Teacher are a clear example of this. Winners of last years Mercury Prize, the bands’ singer Lily Fontaine told a House of Commons committee that their bands’ genre would be “non-existent” without the smaller venues that groups initially begin touring in.
Financial constraints don’t just threaten UK music’s talent pipeline, they also make it less accessible, says Mr Champeau.
“I would love to put a disabled access lift to my stage, because there are lots of acts who want to play here, but have people who need wheelchair access to the stage.
“I can’t provide them with that.”
Working off thin profit margins, the £20,000 it would cost him to install a lift isn’t feasible.
“These people have got a right to perform their music, and I should be in a position to allow them to perform”
Solutions have been discussed to help support the industry. Levies on arena and stadium shows to support grassroots venues are widely accepted as necessary throughout the industry, but whilst Bristol launched a voluntary levy recently, Sheffield has no such scheme locally or nationally.
Such a levy would be transformative, helping to support an industry that generated over £6 billion for the economy in 2023.
To look at the figures, it becomes clear that the Dorothy Pax's situation is not unusual. Without further support, the future of a cultural scene that the city prides itself on is far from certain.
Sheffield shows pride in independent beer with Neepsend festival celebration
Sheffield's best independent breweries showcased thousands of beers this weekend at the Neepsend Beer Festival, held at Peddler Market.
Last year, the city managed to retain the title of ‘Real Ale Capital of the World’ and the festival is a perfect example of why.
James Myles-Moffat, from Sureshot Brewery, said: “It’s great getting out being able to chat to people about our beer and see people enjoying our beer.
“One of the things that Sheffield does really well is pubs. There’s always a lot of good pubs that do a very good job of serving cask ale and that’s very important for a beer city.”
This was the first time the event has taken place with aims to extend the festival into an annual event in the city.
Sheffield is home to over 50 breweries which produce nearly 2000 different beers every year and many of these turned up to the weekend festival to sell their product.
Eleanor Sanderson, from Kirkstall Brewery, said: “There are a lot of industry people that have been excited to come down so it is nice to be in touch with the beer community as a whole.”
Different food stalls were also available within the market, including local businesses, Get Wurst, The Spicy Biker and B’reyt Dough.
There were also no and low alcohol bars serving a variety of beverage options for those who didn't want to drink alcohol.
Tickets to the festival entitled attendees to a free Neepsend Craft Beer Festival glass, one drinks token, redeemable at the main cask and low-and-no alcohol bar and a festival programme.
The festival occurred ahead of Sheffield Beer Week, which is an annual celebration running for the past seven years, this year taking place between 10 March and 16 March.
The Steel City will be looking to win the 'Real Ale Capital' crown once again in 2025.
Sheffield Eagles coach Craig Lingard says team ‘needs to correct some deficiencies’ ahead of Featherstone Rovers match
Sheffield Eagles delivered a dominating thumping against Doncaster RFC to seal a Quarter Finals slot in the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup but the coach noted times when the team "got a little sloppy".
The Eagles opened the scoring, six minutes into the match, thanks to Kris Welham. It was a fairly even contest for most of the first half of the game but Eagles led at the break with a 20-12 scoreline. The game went out of Doncaster’s reach in the second half as the game eventually ended with South Yorkshire rivals losing to Sheffield Eagles by 50-18.
Coach Craig Lingard said after the thumping win against Doncaster that there is still room for improvement. He said: “I think we showed some good signs today. There are still areas where we need to tighten up.”
He highlighted some areas of defensive improvements, stating that the Eagles were a bit sloppy towards the end of the first half. Lingard said the team lost a lot of collisions offensively and defensively once they secured a three-score lead.
The coach had praises to share for the collective performance by the team, but noted the contributions by new signing Corey Johnson and Lewis Peachey. Lingard said that Johnson was not entirely fit to start the game but stepped up to contribute for the match.
Lingard added: “Corey Johnson has been struggling with a little bit of a niggle but he put his hand up to play 80 minutes if we need him.”
Speaking of Lewis Peachey, Lingard said that he “did the job I wanted him to do” which was to make an impact and add more contact in the collisions.
Sheffield Eagles will be facing Bradford in the 1985 cup which will be played at the Bartercard Odsal Stadium on the weekend of 5/6 April.
However, the tie with Bradford is not the current concern for Lingard who must now prepare his team for their upcoming game against Featherstone Rovers in Round 3 of the Betfred Championship on Sunday.
Despite the positives, the coach made it a point to signal out the need to “correct some of the deficiencies” that were on display during the game against Doncaster so that the team can put in a good performance against Featherstone Rovers.
JUS News morning bulletin (3 March 2025)
Here's our JUS News 90 seconds morning news rundown with Sadiya Wani.
Stay tuned for our afternoon news rundown with Millie Park at 2pm.
Read the full stories here on our website.
Sheffield to come together to celebrate community trailblazers in sport at the Move More Awards
Sporting association, The National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM) Sheffield, are hosting their first ever awards ceremony this month, where they will celebrate stand-out contributions to physical activity across Sheffield.
They have received over 150 nominations across 14 categories, and a panel of health leaders have shortlisted nominees to three per category.
On 28 March, the awards will celebrate a host of individuals, teams, and organisations, bringing together 290 people from all over the city who contribute and encourage the health and activity of Sheffield.
Move More is the physical activity strategy for Sheffield, with the vision of creating a healthier, happier, and more connected city bringing people together with a shared purpose.
The strategy seeks to enhance the city's health and well-being, and unite people around the common goal of promoting action across Sheffield.
Rachael Weston, a leader of the Move More initiative, said: “It’s really just about us understanding local context and helping to connect and influence what’s happening with different partners to make sure physical activity is accessible as possible for the community, in whatever that looks like for them.”
Move More partner with different clubs, organisations and grassroots sectors to provide opportunities for physical activity.
They are especially committed to supporting women and girls, people with disabilities and those from communities and backgrounds with lesser access to movement.
Move More are particularly aware of the disparities that influence levels of activity across the city, and the shortlist of nominees consists of those challenging or defying barriers to accessibility and inclusion.
As put by Rachael Weston: “Sheffield is not a massive place, but actually, within Sheffield, it can be so varied in terms of people’s health and their opportunities to access things such as physical activity.”
“Sheffield is a very diverse city, and you can go from one postcode to the next, and the sort of deprivation levels can be quite stark.”
Strategies like Move More and the honouring of community efforts to bolster activity, is a part of a longer-term goal of lifting sport and physical activity in Sheffield.
The awards evening is to recognise and celebrate valuable assets to the community, many of whom, according to Ms Weston, “go above and beyond anything that’s on a job description”.
The Shortlisted Nominees confirmed so far:
Move More Community Project of the Year: Reach Up Youth, OnBoard Skatepark, Darnall Education and Sport Academy
Move More Physical Activity Provider of the Year: Mettle (Dave Hembrough), Firth Park Boxing Academy (Hussein Nasser), Access Sport BMX Outreach Programme
Move More Community Activity Champion of the Year: Nathan Pearson, Tyrone Yeboah, Kellyanne Watts
Move More Trailblazer in Active Travel Transformation Award: Chella Quint, Cycle Sheffield, Sheffield Cycling 4 All
Move More Clinical Service of the Year: Down 2 U Health and Wellbeing (Adam Siu), Long Covid Rehabilitation Hub and Exercise Group, Post TIA and Stroke Exercise Promotion (Dr Ali Ali)
Move More Educational Champion: Links School Sport Partnership (Kim Horton), E-ACT Pathways Academy (Thomas Froggatt), Nether Green Junior School (Tom Hancock)
Move More Educational Setting of the Year: Sheffield Wednesday Community College - Alternative Provision, E-ACT Pathways Academy, Ballifield Primary School
Move More Green Space Vitality and Accessibility Champion Award: River Stewardship Company, Green Estate CIC, SOAR Community (Helen Taylor)
Orchid Show shines light on dying art
Hundreds of people flocked to Sheffield's Orchid Show this weekend, captivated by the exotic flowers.
The annual show took place on Saturday in St. John's Church Hall, Abbeydale, to celebrate the traditional art of growing orchids.
Show Coordinator of the Sheffield & District Orchid Society, Paul Hobson, reflected on the importance of change to keep orchid horticulture alive in the UK.
He said: "Orchid growing is a dying art, things are changing.
"Society has to adapt, and this show is a part of our adaptation to embrace the many new technological and plant growing trends within Britain."
With six different societies from across the Midlands and Northern England attending the show, the hall was full of colourful stalls showcasing a large variety of orchids, all carefully curated by the members.
As well as orchid growers, the show attracted many different flower enthusiasts, with one attendee, Peter Walker, selling carnivorous plants on Saturday.
Mr Walker, owner of Wack’s Wicked Plants, said: “I think young people and kids are attracted to them because of the gruesome side to it.
“There are several groups and forums where people are obsessed with them, so I think social media definitely helps spread the love of carnivorous plants.”
The show saw a rise in visitors of 20-30% from last year, going up to around 300 people, which Mr Hobson attributes to the wider variety of plants on offer.
He said: "What we hope is that visitors buy other plants, look at the orchids and they spill into our world, because we all grow plants, we all love plants. And it's that bit of cross-fertilisation, it's how we help each other."
Elchin Shirinov Trio review: jazz virtuosos bring spellbinding musical fusion to Sheffield
The Firth Hall at the University of Sheffield cut a striking scene at night; a soft light danced on the vaulted wooden ceilings and rich blue curtains, as the audience filed in to their seats amid pooling shadows. It's a suitably atmospheric venue, then, for the ensemble who took Firth Court by storm on 27 February - a trio of accomplished jazz musicians from across the globe, spearheaded by pianist Elchin Shirinov.
Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, Shirinov has reached heights of global recognition for his talents in the field of modern jazz, combining traditional Azeri folk tunes with innovations in form, style and orchestration. With Italian bassist Andrea Di Biase and RAM graduate Dave Hamblett on drums rounding out the trio, their evident camaraderie translates on-stage into impressive musical coordination. The performance is quite a feather in the cap for Sheffield Jazz, who have made bringing "best of national and international jazz to the city" a core plank of their mission statement.
Shirinov announced that the evening marked 11 years of the trio playing together, and you could tell from their performance - throughout the evening, they proved to be masters of the spontaneous improvisation on which jazz music thrives.
They opened with a set titled 'Golden Halo', beginning on a lilting note, but with a tempo gradually building in intensity. Beneath the musicians' practiced, orderly compositions, there was a riotous, almost bacchanalian energy which was nothing short of compelling; the audience was clearly fixed to their seats, captured by the magic of the moment.
They transitioned seamlessly into yet more complex sets, and the Azeri folk influence on their work began to show. The double bass proves a more than fitting substitution for the bağlama, and Di Biase draws outs higher notes on his instrument than I would've thought physically possible. The gentle, soothing notes of an Azeri lullaby might not seem an intuitive fit for the frenetic tempo of concert jazz, but Shirinov and his trio accomplish the musical transition with deft ability.
The interval passed by in what feels like no time at all, and the second act of the night proves to be something of a memorial to Shirinov's hometown, with pieces intended to evoke the cultural medley of Baku's historic city centre. The penultimate set, simply titled 'Old City', is particularly interesting; composed in Budapest, it is a paean not just to Baku, but to the historic quarters of great world cities across the world.
Shirinov said: "It reminds me of the Old City in my town, so it's kind of about that vibe." Sheffield may be a far younger city than Baku, comparatively, but the peculiar nostalgia of watching fragments of history preserved in a place's built environment, amid the slapdash bustle of construction work and new developments, is one many of its residents will know all too well.
The packed audience were spellbound by the Shirinov Trio, with twenty-minute queues for signed CDs and other merchandise towards the end of the night.
This concert night was just the beginning of a broader, jam-packed spring programme for Sheffield Jazz; an upcoming tribute evening to Joni Mitchell is already sold out, and jazz giants Georgia Mancio and Alan Broadbent are set to perform at Crookes Social Club this April.
Is jazz as a mass art phenomenon making a comeback in Sheffield? Only time will tell.
FA kicks off new campaign supporting women and girls in football
The England Football Association's latest campaign, Made for this Game, pitches football as an inclusive sport where women and girls can belong through equal opportunities and access.
Sue Day, Director of Women’s Football the FA, said: “We’ve created Made for This Game to reiterate a clear message to every woman and girl in the country, that no matter your age, ability or background, football is a sport where you belong.”
The campaign was initially launched last week on 26 February, the day of England’s UEFA Women’s Nations League meeting with Spain.
The ‘goal’ is to continue the drive to unlock equal opportunities for all women and girls to access, participate and thrive in football, whilst showing it is a sport where they belong.
Made for this Game kick starts with the Biggest Ever Football Session on Friday 7 March.
Schools across the country will be holding football sessions specifically for girls during lunchtime and before or after school.
Last year 5,000 schools took part in the scheme, including many in South Yorkshire.
This follows the success of the FA’s previous campaign, Let Girls Play, which began in October 2021.
According to the FA, Let Girls Play led to a 56% increase in the number of women and girls playing football.
Molly Wilson, Football Development Officer for Women and Girls at Sheffield and Hallamshire County Football Association, said: “The previous campaign seemed like girls had to ask for permission to play.
“We are excited to give women and girls in South Yorkshire more encouragement to get involved as football was made for everyone!”
Ms Day said: “While so much progress has been made to create opportunities for women and girls in football, we know there is so much more to do, so the hard work to create true equality across the game continues.”
In 2024, a survey by Women In Football found that 89% of women said that they experienced discrimination working in the sport.
The Lionesses took to Instagram to show their support for the new campaign, their caption said: “On and off the pitch.
“A space to just be you.”
Delicious names dished up for baby llama
'Sandwich', 'Chickpea' and 'Banana' are just some of the names that have been suggested in a contest to name a baby llama at a Sheffield farm.
The latest arrival was born at Graves Park Animal Farm at the end of January to mum, Nancy.
The park announced the contest on Facebook on 26 February and there are now over 450 comments on the post, with a wide range of names suggested.
The names of the new llama's siblings, Lettuce and Hummus, inspired many of the comments, with 'Baba Ganoush', 'Couscous' and 'Pita' each suggested several times.
Others leaned into Sheffield's history for inspiration - 'Hendos' was suggested by one commenter and 'Endcliffe' by another.
Sheffield resident, Tina Corker, said: “Hendos because he’s dark and made in Sheffield just like our famous relish! I’m sure it’d be fabulous with Hummus and Lettuce.”
The winner of the contest will be invited to the park to meet the baby and his herd.
The llamas at the park live alongside some of the rarest farm animals in the country, including Tamworth Pigs, Highland cattle and Jacob sheep.
The new addition is joining over 20 llamas kept at the farm and across their satellite locations around Sheffield.
A baby llama is known as a 'cria' and mothers communicate with them by humming.
Visitors can pet and hand-feed the animals, although they should be aware that llamas can spit up to 4.5 metres.
Councillor Kurtis Crossland, chair of Sheffield City Council's Communities, Parks and Leisure Policy Committee said: "Being one of the first newborns during this year's spring season, we want locals to get involved in naming the cria, giving it a warm welcome to one of Sheffield's most notorious animal farms."
The winning name will be chosen by the farm staff and announced on 12 March.
Craig Lingard explains why Mitch Clark joined York Knights from Sheffield Eagles
Eight years after his sole appearance for the club, Mitch Clark has returned to the York Knights. Clark has signed a two-and-a-half year deal following his release from the Sheffield Eagles. A day after Sheffield Eagles confirmed the departure of Mitch Clark, head coach Craig Lingard explained why the 31-year-old ended his brief stint with the Rugby League club.
Clark was released from his contract by mutual consent on compassionate grounds, and during a press conference at The Wave in Sheffield on Wednesday, coach Lingard was asked about Clark’s release in the lead-up to the game between the Eagles and Doncaster Knights RFC.
Lingard said when he joined the Eagles last year, the head coach was keen on improving the connection between the players and management at the club. The former Castleford Tigers head coach said he had urged the players to reach out to him if they had reservations about extending their stay at Sheffield Eagles.
Clark said: “Mitchy came to me at the start of the week, he had personal issues at home in terms of travelling, it was quite a long way away from Sheffield. His wife is currently pregnant, so he is spending a lot of time away from home, leaving the house for work at seven o'clock in the morning, not necessarily getting back home until after 10, quarter to 11 at night.”
Clark has joined Championship rivals York Knights after bidding farewell to his former teammates at Sheffield. Eagles head coach Lingard believes that the forward's departure is unlikely to have any major effect on the club's performance moving forward. The 47-year-old also mentioned that the Eagles will have Clark’s replacement within the next three weeks.
“I think that what you tend to find in team sport and in working life as well, you do a number of jobs and work with a lot of different people, but you quickly move on and that's not a negative, but you've got to focus on the job in hand,” Lingard explained.
“Mitch is a great, real nice and personal bloke, but we've got to make sure that we move on. He came in last night and said his goodbyes to the players and we connected with our phones, you are only a call or text message away. I don't think it'll impact us too much,” he concluded.
A seasoned campaigner in the Super League and Championship, Clark had stints with Bradford and Hull KR in the build-up to his arrival at the British top flight. The former Eagles star was recruited by Wigan Warriors in 2020. The Kiwi forward represented Castleford for two seasons followed by his transfer to Newcastle Thunder.
Coming up today on Sheffield Wire
Good morning! It's another news day and we are covering a variety of stories and events from the Sheffield Wire newsroom. Here are some of our top stories to look out for throughout the day:
Nearly a quarter of a mile of the Redcar Brook has been filled with foul-smelling waste from cannabis farms. Our reporter, Billy Clarke spoke to the volunteers working hard to clean it up.
A 16-year-old beauty student at Barnsley college was told having a bikini wax was a mandatory part of the course. The student and her mum are now campaigning to have the right to say no.
Protestors disrupted the Yorkshire and Humber regional Labour Party conference in Sheffield this weekend. Campaigners held placards and handed out leaflets criticising Keir Starmer's approach to migration and the war in Gaza. Our reporter, Josh Herman was at the scene.
In sporting news, nominations have just closed for Sheffield's Move More Awards, which celebrate community sport, exercise and physical activity across the city. Carys Reid spoke to the founder of the awards about their importance.
And finally, this weekend marked the start of Sheffield's Festival of the Outdoors! From guided walks to adventure film festivals, there are plenty of events to get involved with throughout the month.