As SA Performing Arts Centre marks a quarter-century in Newcastle, its anniversary offers a timely companion to our conversation with Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen: a story about the people, relationships and places that help the North East’s creativity grow

VadaVada’s closure is another blow to Manchester’s queer community, and it happened in just five months

Living costs, the NHS and the economy dominate Britain’s concerns. Behind those national findings lie substantial differences in income, health and opportunity. For the North, the question is how to protect the everyday conditions that allow people to belong, create and participate

Ben Robinson knew Charlotte as his great-grandmother. Years later, her surviving wartime letters revealed a young woman living through love, separation and uncertainty. Here, he reflects on the Yorkshire family archive that inspired his book - and why ordinary lives deserve to be remembered

From the decisions that shape our neighbourhoods to the information we trust, politics runs through everyday life. At Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival, John Curtice, Jonathan Sumption and John Sergeant offer three routes into understanding how power works - and how we hold it to account

The Severn Estuary to the Wash? Above the Watford Gap or Hadrian’s Wall? What about Birmingham? Anything north of the M25 ring road? Molly struggles to draw the line

Ahead of Under Development at Newcastle Contemporary Art, the photographer reflects on the relationships behind her pictures, returning to a changed neighbourhood and why the work must speak to our lives now

As a new exhibition brings Tyneside and East London into conversation, curator Ellen Stone asks what redevelopment looks like from the lives it changes. Drawing on the AmberSide and Four Corners collections, Underdevelopment is a story of homes, resistance and belonging - and of an archive finding new ways to serve its communities

A brown-capped fungus with bright yellow gills is the subject of an urgent autumn search in Nidderdale. After a dry summer, the Date Waxcap may offer a brief opportunity to discover more about the remarkable life of our long-established grasslands

A woodland walk beneath ultraviolet light offers an unusual way into Yorkshire’s Dark Skies Fringe Festival this half term. Across moor, dale and forest, the wider programme invites us to rediscover the night - and consider what disappears when we light it away

A Sheffield dairy farm known for its milk and ice cream is asking its community to help power its future. Beth explores how Our Cow Molly’s plans for locally owned renewable energy could keep more money in the city - and what it takes to turn ‘shop local’ into ‘invest local’

From grazing infrastructure to a family ice cream business in Lofthouse, more than 250 projects have received Farming in Protected Landscapes support in Nidderdale. Now, farmers and community organisations are being encouraged to bring forward their ideas — even before they have worked out all the details

A celebration of life and growth in urbanopolis highlights the importance of access and education in green space – no matter where it falls

At Hill Top, young tenant farmers Amy Dixon and Dan Fletcher are building a future among Herdwick sheep, uncertain agricultural policy and the legacy of Beatrix Potter. Their partnership with the National Trust reveals why sustaining the Lake District means supporting the people who live and work on its land.

Yorkshire endured just a tenth of its normal July rainfall. Rivers reached historic lows, soils baked and reservoirs retreated - yet much of the groundwater beneath northern England remained remarkably resilient. Is part of the answer to a hotter, drier future hiding in the rocks below us?

Evidence of large-scale prehistoric iron production unearthed in Thornton may shed some light on the origins of parts of the Melsonby Hoard - but many mysteries remain

With sitar player Roopa Panesar and tabla artist Kousic Sen closing Milap’s autumn season, Liverpool has an opportunity to hear a musical partnership built over years - and consider who gets to imagine a future on stage

A Leeds restaurant serving kosher and halal food, friendship along the Pennines and a Manchester gala led by Daniel Auteuil. The UK Jewish Film Festival’s 30th edition brings comedy, documentary, history and contemporary Jewish life to northern screens this November

Six years of collaboration, a quarrelsome double act and a family story waiting to be heard. As Gateshead’s Lawnmowers marks its 40th anniversary, a new production with Murmur Theatre brings learning-disabled artists’ creativity and experience to stages across the North East and Yorkshire

A gorgeous Christmas story is preparing to take its place on a North Yorkshire platform. With live performers, hot chocolate and a journey aboard a heritage train, The Polar Express returns to Wensleydale Railway this November - inviting families to step inside the tale

As Cap-a-Pie turns 30, its latest production is taking four-to-seven-year-olds across the universe - and bringing cutting-edge research into North East classrooms. Mission Outer Space shows what can happen when theatre gives children the confidence to ask questions even scientists cannot yet answer

Movema turns 17 this Saturday with live music, an inclusive dance floor and an Irish stew. As part of Liverpool Irish Festival, it’s an invitation to come together - even if your usual contribution to dancing is looking after everybody’s coats

Returning to the North East for Durham Book Festival, on Saturday 10th October Neil Tennant joined Fiona Hill to discuss the places, books and histories that have shaped his music career

A partnership with The Biscuit Factory brings exhibitions and artist conversations to north Northumberland, beginning with Modern Classics. Its promise lies in making contemporary art part of the cultural life of a rural town