Hyde Park Book Club is at the heart of Leeds’ creative arts scene and has achieved its vision in becoming an events-led, pan-arts creative hub. The unique and bohemian venue provides a platform for artists, musicians, writers, foodies and is recognised for showcasing highly-regarded talent. Housed in an old, disused petrol station adjoined to a fancy dress shop, Hyde Park Book Club started life as a cosy cafe in 2015 before transforming into a live music and arts space across two floors, serving food and drink and selling books and records. Nearly two years on and the space has expanded with a new basement and outdoor area, a bottle shop and a bookshop with an exclusive section dedicated to classic and contemporary Yorkshire writers. All the while, the fancy dress shop remains, with its presence representing the quirky, off-beat and eclectic feel that Hyde Park Book Club has maintained throughout its various incarnations. Hyde Park Book Clubís event space range from music festivals to spoken word and open letters readings, intimate debates, jazz clubs, book launches, book clubs, theatre, art and photography exhibitions and even local club nights, that have started at Hyde Park Book Club before spreading across the city. The cafe serves vegetarian dishes, incorporating plant protein from Holland-based specialists and the world’s first plant butcher, The Vegetarian Butcher. The cafe also uses fresh vegetables in its dishes (grown on the local micro-farm, Grow Cafe in Barwick) and stocks ice cream from local suppliers Northern Bloc and coffee from Maude coffee plus, a variety of locally sourced beers.