Nice As Pie Race Leeds: Your full guide to the Wharf Chambers festival - including line-up and entry rules
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A weekend of promoting fun, kindness, pies and punk returns to Wharf Chambers next week.
- Considered one of the UK’s leading underground music festivals, Nice As Pie Race returns to Wharf Chambers next week.
- The celebrated weekend features a who’s who of alternative talent that you can lay claim to seeing before they ‘blew up.’
- Here’s who is performing this year and, more importantly, what you need to attend to avoid blushes at the door.
For those of you in the city who just can’t wait for Live at Leeds In The City to return on November 15, then perhaps a little slice of DIY next week might be in order.
The punk scene's favourite cooperative congregation, the Nice As Pie Race (NAPR), is back on November 7 and 8, promising an unparalleled weekend of music, pals, and, well... pie.
Leeds is rightly celebrated for its larger music showcases, but true discovery often happens on a smaller scale, in venues powered by community rather than capital.
The annual Nice As Pie Race at Wharf Chambers is the essential antidote to festival fatigue, offering a proudly independent, multi-genre dive into the UK's underground alternative scene.
But for those of us who might not be familiar with the festival, what is it all about? Will huge, nationally regarded acts be performing like other festivals in the city, and even if you get a ticket, is that all you need to attend?
Ahead of next week’s celebration of DIY and doing-it-together, here’s what you need to know about the Nice As Pie Race.
What is the Nice As Pie Race?
The Nice As Pie Race (NAPR) is a renowned annual DIY music festival, operating as a celebration of the independent punk, ska-punk, and alternative scenes. The name is a classic piece of Yorkshire tongue-in-cheek humour, embodying the festival's slogan: "diverse music, punk, pals, and pies."
It's less a conventional race and more a cooperative congregation. It runs entirely on DIY ethics, meaning the focus is heavily on community, affordability, and providing an inclusive space for underground bands—all within the friendly confines of Wharf Chambers.
If you're looking for authenticity and high-energy music without corporate sponsorship, this is your event.
Have any ‘big’ acts performed at the Nice As Pie Race previously?
Define "big" - as acts change depending on whether you’re looking at mainstream charts or the vitality of the underground scene.
NAPR does not book arena headliners; it books vital leaders in the UK DIY and punk rock circuit.
But if you’re looking for some notable names, past line-ups have featured bands such as Ducking Punches (Norwich folk-punk), Plot 32 (Leeds ska-punk legends), Velvet Fist (Riot Grrrl/Trash Punk) and high-energy national acts like The Zipheads and Almeida.
These are the bands that consistently tour hard and form the backbone of the alternative community. If you want to catch the acts that other artists are raving about, you'll find them here.
Who is performing at this year’s Nice As Pie Race?
The 2025 iteration of NAPR promises a thrilling mix of punk and noise across the two days, and once again, as with every year, a host of highly-rated independent acts are set to converge to Wharf Chambers.
- Native James
- Pizzatramp
- Rupcha Farms
- Knife Club
- Irked
- Fast Blood
- Heavyset
- Skint Knees
- Velvet Fist
- T**t Union
- Grail
- Guard
- Smoking Fingers
- TCCL
- Plot32
- We Are The Prodigy
- Clitspit
- Sour Flake
- Ash
- Mustard Mitt
- Click Clack
Where can I get tickets to attend the Nice As Pie Race this year?
Tickets for the Nice As Pie Race are available directly from the organisers through the official ticketing page.
Do I just need a ticket to attend the Nice As Pie Race?
This is where you might be caught out!
The short answer is no, you need a ticket and a membership—and this is the single most important detail about NAPR.
The requirement stems from the unique nature of the host venue: Wharf Chambers is run as a co-operative members' club. To comply with their strict licensing rules and maintain their community ethos, you must either be an official member yourself or attend as a guest of a member - and if you’re bringing guests, just make sure they’re not eggs.
No one wants to be associated with the person who, for whatever reason, causes drama - and your name will be associated with them.
While membership is purposefully very affordable (currently around £2 annually or a lifetime membership for only £15), there is a crucial catch: new applications must take effect a minimum of 48 hours before the event. You cannot simply show up on the night, buy a ticket, and pay a membership fee at the door.
To ensure you can enjoy the music, the pals, and the pies, make sure you apply for membership on the Wharf Chambers website well in advance of November 7.
Don't be caught outside the door, thinking you just need a ticket—that wouldn't be very ‘summat’ to look forward to, would it?
Know someone with a collection of vinyl they love, or hoping to build one up?
The record player works as a stand-alone record player with integrated stereo speakers, so they can enjoy favourite tracks in high quality sound.
Alternatively, he can use the USB port to connect the player to his PC and use it as a USB record player, recording and converting their favourite vinyl to WAV or MP3 format for his modern MP3 player.
If he want to connect it to his home stereo too then that’s no problem, with stereo phono outputs on the rear can simply and quickly be connected.
Featuring two-speed settings of 33 1/3 and 45 RPM.