[5] The proposal included the construction of a lighthouse commemorating John Smeaton on the south bank of the Aire, as well as an extension of the city's Light Night festival.

[9][10][11][12] This move was described by the Financial Times as: "When its bid to be European Capital of Culture was thwarted by Brexit, the city decided to anoint itself and start partying anyway".

[26] Leeds Culture Trust agreed to wage and working conditions set by a range of artistic unions, including Equity.

[37][38] Unsung Sports focussed on the important roles that gaelic football, table tennis, women's basketball, aikido, roller skating and petanque play in Leeds.

[45][46] Hosted by Gabby Logan and Sanchez Payne, a 10,000 strong crowd was entertained by a range of performers and presenters from Leeds, including: Corinne Bailey Rae, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Kadeena Cox, George Webster, Simon Armitage and his band, LYR, as well as the chorus of Opera North, Leeds West Indian Carnival, spoken word artists Testament and Danmark Cleary, Ntantu and Graft, as well as tabla expert Inder Goldfinger.

[49] The audience received their tickets in exchange for sending in original or images of artwork they had made: the programmers took an inclusive view of 'art' citing TikToks as just as valid an artistic expression as painting.

[63] In June, Making a Stand, a seven metre tall installation in City Square, inspired by the forests that used to cover Leeds, was revealed to the public.

[64] Created by artist Michael Pinsky with Studio Bark, the "sculptural forest" intended to connect the civic realm with themes around sustainability and conservation.

[65][66] The same month, Conservative councillor Alan Lamb stated that the year of culture had the potential to be a "damp squib" and that public imaginations had not yet been captured by the programme.

[76] In partnership with Leeds Industrial Museum, an exhibition entitled Engineery opened in October 2023, which used objects to discuss Smeaton and civil engineering.

[78] Another collaboration with the museum was Any Work That Wanted Doing, a series of artists' interventions which explored the lives of disabled mill workers in the nineteenth century.

[79] September saw the launch of A City without Seams, a project between artist Keith Khan and Burberry, celebrating Leeds' textile heritage and the identities of each of its wards.

[82] Khan and artistic director Kully Thiarai defended the illustration, stating that it depicted rhubarb growing by candlelight, an agricultural practice that the area is famous for.

[82] In October the programme included a series of events entitled All That Lives by artists Ellie Harrison and Zion Art Studio from Mexico, who used Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations to explore death and dying in Yorkshire.

[87][88] And She Built a Crooked House was another commission, in collaboration with Artangel UK, where artist Gemma Anderson-Tempini created installations in an empty Victorian villa, which explored themes of string theory and motherhood.

Entitled Hibiscus Rising it commemorates David Oluwale, a Nigerian homeless man who was persecuted by officers from Leeds City Police, leading to his death in 1969.

[97][98][99][100] An initial review by the BBC suggested that although the year had suffered bad luck related to the COVID-19 pandemic and poor weather, it "may help change perceptions of the city".

[101] Those challenges were reiterated by Kully Thiarai, speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post in December 2023, however she went on to state that the year "put Leeds on the cultural map, nationally and internationally – and I think we can certainly say that that's happened in the way people talk about the city".