With beautiful weather for the majority of this year’s summer, there’s no better way to celebrate the sunshine of 2013 than at Leicester’s upcoming City Festival.
Taking place during the upcoming bank holiday, the city-wide celebration is the first of its kind with organisers hoping to turn it into an annual event.
City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby spoke of the event saying “The heart of our city provides the perfect stage for two days of family entertainment, with a programme of events that¹s been drawn up to encourage people to visit all of the city centre”
“I hope that the City Festival will celebrate some of the key aspects of life in Leicester: our sport, our communities, our culture and our heritage.”
Kicking off the weekend in a sporting style, Sunday 25th August will see keen cyclists from all over Leicestershire, take to their bicycles and ride down a traffic-free route through city-centre; starting at the Old Town, heading towards the Cultural Quarter before finishing at Humberstone Gate West.
With a wealth of fun and entertainment on offer, community groups and voluntary organisations from across Leicestershire will add to the festivities encouraging more people to get involved helping within their communities, as well as showcasing the positive work they do in our local neighbourhoods.
Monday 26th August sees the highly anticipated return of the Leicester Mela, filling the Belgrave area with bright colours and delicious traditional cuisine. The Mela extends to Leicester Market with a large Indian bazaar; not to mention live music and energetic dance performances at Humberstone Gate, all with South Asian flavour.
The Old Town is an area not to be missed on Bank Holiday Monday when Leicester’s history is brought to life and celebrated with activities taking place in Magazine Square and Newarke House Museum. In addition, for the food fanatics amongst you, Guildhall and Leicester Cathedral will provide the backdrop to the food festival which celebrates local producers and their delicious offerings.
Over Sunday and Monday Town Hall Square sees poets, painters and musicians who arrived in the UK as refugees, share their talents and life stories in the Journeys Festival, a touring celebration of art and culture which will shortly be traveling round the East Midlands.
For children and those young at heart there will be plenty on offer, with a large beach being created in Orton Square. End of the Pier Delights is an event organised by The Spark Arts for Children with the opportunity to show off your sandcastle building skills as well as songs, games and a host of beach-themed activities.
Looking set to be a fantastic way to round off the summer holidays, the City Festival takes place on August 25th and 26th across Leicester. Proud of bringing the city together and recognising the importance of celebrating the wealth of culture, history and entertainment Leicester has to offer, Sir Peter told Pukaar News how it was a chance to “provide something for all the family, a chance for the whole of Leicester to celebrate the end of the summer and to celebrate together.”
