More than 50 local artists took to stages across Nottingham venues to raise money for rough sleepers as the annual Beat the Streets charity fundraiser festival returned on Sunday (January 26).
Heavy metal crowd-pleasers Evil Scarecrow, actor Paddy Considine’s musical side project Riding The Low and alt-rock favourites Bored Marsh are among the artists who highlighted Nottingham’s musical talents at the event.
Since 2018, the festival has raised just under £500,000 for Nottinghamshire charity Framework, which provides housing, employment, and rough sleeping support to thousands of people across the East Midlands.
Money raised from the 2023 festival went towards the building of eight purpose-built flats in Forest Fields, which now houses long-term rough sleepers.
In previous years, funds from the event have kept the charity’s emergency winter shelter open all year round.
Artists played across DHP Family venues Rock City, Rescue Rooms, The Bodega, Stealth, and Rough Trade throughout the day, with all proceeds from tickets, bar, and merch going directly to Framework.
Event organisers are expected to confirm at a later date how much money was raised for charity from this year’s event, with the hope and expectation that it will exceed the £500k milestone.
READ THE FULL WRITE-UP HERE: ‘It really makes an impact’ – Musicians, organisers and charities on Beat the Streets 2025
Have a look at the best moments of Beat the Streets 2025 here – all photos taken by Taylor Ind:
Local power pop trio Sharp Class kicked off the day at Rock City 
They played a short but sweet set to an energised audience at 2:00pm 
They told Platform it was an ambition of the band to play the iconic Rock City stage 
They formed in 2020 and released their debut last year 
JayaHadADream also played on the iconic Rock City stage 
Backed by her band, she played a mix of her best tracks 
She returns to Nottingham after playing Glastonbury in the summer 
She told Platform playing the venue was a ‘dream come true’ 
Antonio Panzera played an acoustic set at Rescue Rooms 
Local legends Do Nothing graced the Rock City stage – and not for the first time 
Having formed in Nottingham more than ten years ago, the band played to an energetic audience 
The band played songs from their 2023 release, Snake Sideways 
They told Platform the festival provides a brilliant platform for emerging artists and bands to attract new audiences 
Lead singer Chris Bailey said: “All you have to do to support is get a ticket and you get to see loads of good bands – you get loads in return just for a ticket” 
The brilliant Bored Marsh played to a packed Rescue Rooms main room 
As the tongue-in-cheek name may suggest, the boys are Nottingham born and bred 
Having formed in 2021, the band has carved out a unique sound 
They released their debut EP ‘Idiot” last year 
The band formed in lockdown and have since gone from strength-to-strength 
George Akins, organiser DHP Family’s managing director, said Beat The Streets “has been a really important event” for the company (Image: Taylor Ind)