On Thursday 5th March, Wingstop UK, Keep Hush and Sexy Lady Massive joined forces to celebrate International Women’s Day by putting together an unforgettable night at Leeds’ infamous Mint Warehouse.
Known for their £1-entry Flavours events—an inclusive and cost-effective alternative to the high prices that have become standard in nightlife lately—Thursday was a great example of Wingstop UK uplifting young people in a city with a big university population like Leeds, where folks still want a good night out in the midst of a recession. It also showed that it can be done without breaking the bank, and that brands need to be more supportive. It didn’t stop at £1 tickets either: there were free drinks, a claw machine full of free gifts and free food, celebrating the launch of the new Dragon’s Breath flavour, plus cash prizes of up to £500. The prizes were given out by superstar presenter Henrie, who was responsible for spotting the movers and groovers in the crowd.
Wingstop UK’s She’s Got Flavours was a women-focused event. From the team who had been across it for weeks—working on ideation and being there on the night—to the DJs and MCs on the line-up, we got to see what a rave can look like when women are in charge every step of the way. When it comes to club nights, there are still gaps caused by treating women who work in nightlife, and women attendees, as an afterthought, regularly leading to male-dominated line-ups and serious issues. But the women were in charge for this night, and it was such a refreshing experience.
The event was also a collaborative effort from Keep Hush, a collective and platform that centres music lovers, underground dance music culture and so much more. Sexy Lady Massive, described as “the UK’s leading ladies-only music community”, were also heavily involved in the programming. Both crews, from the moment the doors flung open to the end of the rave, created such an intentional night of non-stop skanking and enjoyment.
To kick off the night, Lila was on the decks, bringing soulful vibes to the partygoers and warming up the dancefloor with some disco hits. Next up, Nora got into some funky house and Latin club, taking the tempo up as the dancefloor got busier. Both DJs are good friends who have been killing it with their sets, and both have shows on Rinse FM.
Afterwards, Sexy Lady Massive’s Asian Brat and Hendy jumped on a back-to-back set with Manchester’s finest, Lady Ice, and Birmingham’s very own Cola B. The synergy throughout the set was mad—140BPM at the core—with Asian Brat and Hendy gliding across grime, dubstep, bassline and more. Lady Ice and Cola B would seamlessly jump in to spray some bars, showing off their crowd-control skills and getting the ravers to shout “0161” and “0121”, showing exactly how they do it up North.
Arthi was next to slay on the decks, and she kicked off her set with some different flavours, drawing for club sounds from across the world and making it feel like summer in the dance. Once Arthi had finished, Henrie announced the last prize of the evening, a whopping £500, which was won through a lively dance battle between three enthusiastic dancers from the crowd who had volunteered to take part.
The dancefloor opened up to create space for them to battle to Doechii’s “NISSAN ALTIMA”. We’re talking Michael Jackson moves and all sorts of backflips here—it felt like being in Step Up. Once the winner was selected, the end of the evening was in the hands of Selecta Cee and Betsy Mae of Sexy Lady Massive, who were joined by MC Jolie P for another banging b2b set. They set the tone for the rest of the night with some great jungle vibes. The air was filled with She’s Got Flavours bandanas and gunfingers from the beginning of their set to the end as the ladies were shelling it.
“She’s Got Flavours came together from recognising how strong the energy around electronic music is in the Leeds nightlife scene, especially across the student community,” says Beth Neale, Wingstop UK’s Brand Partnerships Manager. For her, this collaboration just made sense. “We wanted to bring together platforms like Keep Hush and Sexy Lady Massive to bring their communities together in celebrating International Women’s Day,” she adds. “Combining those worlds gave us an opportunity to create something that felt accessible and genuinely memorable for the people in the room.”
The evening was a marker of collaboration and a reminder of what an all-female bill can feel like with women at the centre of event programming. It was a lot—and I mean A LOT!—of fun, and I can’t wait to hit the next one.