City Varieties Music Hall
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Contact Details:

Swan Street, Leeds, LS1 6LW
01132430808
info@leedsheritagetheatres.com

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  • Accessibility & Facilities

    • Aa covid confident
    • Accessible toilet
    • Audio described
    • Audio tours
    • Baby changing facilities
    • British sign language
    • Captioned
    • Family friendly venue
    • Guide dogs welcome
    • Hearing aid loop
    • Orientation visits
    • Relaxed
    • Toilets
    • Wheelchair accessible

  • Travelling by Car

    City Varieties is located on Swan Street, a pedestrianised, cobbled alley linking Briggate with Lands Lane in Leeds city centre. There is no vehicle access to the building for customers. Parking is available at several city centre car parks near the venue, including Q-Park St Johns, Q-Park The Light, CitiPark Merrion Centre & First Direct Arena, Templar and Edward Street, and Victoria Gate Multi Storey. All the car parks listed above have provision for Blue Badge holders. In addition, there are on-street parking bays for Blue Badge holders across Leeds city centre.

  • Travelling by Train

    City Varieties is around a 15 minutes’ walk from Leeds train station.

City Varieties Music Hall

A hidden gem. Leeds’ oldest working theatre and the Guinness World Record holder for the nation’s longest running music hall. Not bad for a once smoke-filled room above a pub, where the working class of Leeds would drink and be merry, shout vulgarities at performers and sing-along to pithy ditties.

Established in 1865, The Varieties is a living, breathing homage to the music hall era. You can feel it, touch it, smell it.

If you stop, take a breath and listen, she’ll tell you the story of the stars who have performed on her stage, from Houdini to Russell Crowe; the prince who hid in her balcony to secretly court a music hall queen; the baby that was born during pantomime and gifted free admission for life; the schoolchildren who would fire pea-shooters at the striptease acts; the renditions of Down at the Old Bull and Bush to close BBC TV’s The Good Old Days; the funny man from Liverpool with his tickling stick; and the army of volunteers who have welcomed the people of Leeds through her front doors for over 155 years.

And still the stories are being made. Barring a pandemic in 2020-21, and much-needed facelift in 2009-11, The Varieties has never closed her doors. Audiences from far and wide still flock to see the brightest stars from comedy, music, variety and pantomime perform on her stage, indeed Mr Dara O’Briain said she is: “Steeped in history… still regarded as the best venue for stand-up in the nation.”