Leeds Festival of Gothica celebrates a ‘new generation of goths’

The Leeds Festival of Gothica celebrates a “new generation of goths” along with the city’s heritage of the culture in the 1980’s.

The market started in 2016 with eight stalls and has grown to over 150 stalls, with around 29,000 visitors annually.

Danny Mass from the band Salvation praised the new generation of goths: “Leeds still needs an alternative culture and it’s good to see so many young weirdos around, the world is a better place with weirdos.”

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“Not everyone knows that Leeds is the birthplace of goth culture, which is what we’re trying to make more aware”, said Mark Silver.

“It’s easy to think that the festival is a way of looking back and celebrating 50 years ago, but it’s also about now and young people celebrating the new goth bands and venues, he added.”

Along with the festival, the new exhibition at the Leeds City Museum, Music Leeds Us celebrates 60 years of music from the city including a wide range of gothic history.

Elizabeth Griffin, organiser of the festival said: ” It’s flourished into not only a place where people can socialise and shop but we also connect with other events like local gigs.”

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The city’s goth origins come from the music scene in the 1980’s, with bands like The Sisters of Mercy and The March Violets, and alternative venues like the F Club and Le Phonographique.

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“We come every year and you see lots of interesting people, and by handing out lots of leaflets, it’s a good way for spreading awareness of mental health conditions,” said Maria Rhodes-Johnson.

The goth music scene is still very present, with new bands like Zeitgeist Zero and Tarantula Handsome, making new music and playing gigs around the city.

Alex Mcguire, the lead singer and guitarist from Tarantula Handsome described the current goth music scene:

“It’s very healthy, and we’re doing well with the promotion from the festival. We put gigs on when we can and we always try to support other bands that are playing.”

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Teresa from Zeitgeist Zero said: “When we started the goth music scene was largely split into two groups, those from the 1980’s and a new cyber-industrial wave, and we were somewhere in between because we liked to use electronics but we also wanted to play guitars.

“But I think people are more open now and it’s allowed for a wider variety of bands,” she added.

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