2025 in review (part 1)

Welcome to our annual run-down of the highlights of the year in Leicester and Leicestershire! It’s always fun to look back, reflect and celebrate a fantastic list of events, attractions and great days out. This is part 1 of 2, because, of course, there’s way too much to pack into one list! So without further ado, we begin way back in January.

A new initiative this year from the team behind the Leicestershire Curry Awards, National Thali Week launched in early January! A Thali is a selection of samples of different dishes on the menu at an Indian restaurant and is the perfect way to get a taste of England’s Curry Capital.

The ladies of Leicester’s Unglamorous punk movement were celebrated with a special exhibition in Leicester Museum. Now we’re not saying that the creators of the BBC series ‘The Women Who Rock!’ came to this exhibit armed with notebooks to take their ideas because that would be rude. Much like stealing the story and songs of these amazing women would be!

We visited the Made in the Middle Exhibition at DMU’s Gallery which was a fantastic showcase of local artists and creators. It’s worth highlighting places like this as they’re often missed by visitors as they’re off the beaten track, or not seen to be welcoming to non-university people. But the gallery is open year round with some amazing exhibitions!

We put together a fun list of the places named Leicester around the world. There are more than you might think, with some real connections to our city. Join us as we travel the world from North Carolina to Sierra Leone to see how far and wide the name has spread.

February saw the launch of VisitBritain’s Starring Great Britain campaign, focused on international travellers who come to explore the UK through film and TV locations. Leicestershire is replete with film and TV locations, and we ran through all the connections in our article. You can read it here

The largest comedy festival in Europe takes place in Leicester every February and we went quackers for the Leiceseter Comedy Festival Duck, who made his merry way around the city, popping up in different locations throughout the three week festival, which featured more than 700 shows! The Comedy Festival returns in 2026, bigger and better than ever!

The Lunar New Year was brought in by Leicester’s Chinese New Year celebrations. With lanterns, music performances, a parade with lion dances and loads more cultural fun, this has become another of the city’s festival mainstays.

And to round out our month of Britain on Screen, we put together a Leicestershire Watchlist, with some of the best films and TV that have been filmed in our city and county. These include Netflix’s The Crown, Oscar winner The Hours, Bollywood hit Jadoo and heartwarming classic Goodnight Mr Tom. Read it here

We uncovered a hidden gem in Wigston as we visited the Framework Knitters Museum, a lovingly preserved row of Victorian cottages which tell the story of Leicester’s knitwear trade and house real examples of the machinery and artefacts which made the city the home of fashion.

Bringing amazing installations to the city just before the clocks went forward, Light Up Leicester was an incredible example of the type of festival which the city specialises in. It showcased the city’s creativity and brought thousands of people into the centre to marvel at the displays. It has since won two national awards, plus best free event at the Leicestershire Tourism Awards!

Our museums team were shortlisted for VisitEngland’s Tourism Superstar award thanks to their commitment to amazing customer service and visitor welcome. They didn’t win the main prize, but to be named among the 10 best in the country is testament to their dedication!

Leicester went Roman for the Old Town Festival as the community came together to make a life-size recreation of the city’s Roman Forum out of cardboard! Workshops were held throughout the week and thousands of people helped to assemble the forum in Jubilee Square on the Saturday, before pulling it down and trampling it (before it went for recycling) on Sunday!

On the same weekend, thousands of people from the Sikh community paraded through the city centre for the celebration of Vaisakhi. Having events celebrating St George’s Day, our Roman history and the Sikh community all running alongside each other was the perfect showcase for Leicester!

We talked about thali earlier, and this video of pensioners having a thali and dance went viral this month. Our good friend Niken who runs hungryolivethethyme met this community lunch club at local restaurant Mohanthal, featured it on his channel, and of course people absolutely loved the good vibes on show!

Twycross Zoo opened their newest attraction which focused on reptiles and insects and we were lucky enough to be there for the launch. It’s just one more reason to visit this incredible attraction which is also committed to conservation.

This year was the 80^th anniversary of the end of World War II and for VE Day the country came together in sombre reflection (and celebration) as we marked the day with beacons, 1940s themed parties and much more.

In what Bloomberg calls “the most comprehensive study of its kind”, Leicester was named as one of Europe’s best cities, Ranking 87th in the continent by Resonance, the listing praised our history, our Cultural Quarter, and the work of the University of Leicester in setting up Space Park Leicester. We were also judged to have Europe’s 12th-best housing affordability and 15th-best air quality.

Following in the footsteps of the Moon and Earth, Luke Jerram’s installation Mars came to Leicester Cathedral and this had to be seen to be believed. The huge recreation of the Red Planet was there for two weeks alongside loads of fun family activities!

Leicester Riders won a record-equalling 7^th British Basketball League title as they beat fierce rivals the Newcastle Eagles at London’s O2 Arena. They are the oldest professional club in the UK, formed in 1967 and have won an amazing 20 league and cup titles in their storied history.

50,000 people come to the Riverside Festival every year and this was no exception! This massive free cultural festival by the side of the River Soar featured live music performances, stalls and crafts, performances for the kids, dragon boat racing, great food and drink, and loads of fun!

The Leicester Tigers reached another Premiership final with a fantastic win against Sale and two incredible tries by winger Adam Radwan. We compared one of them to another moment from Leicester City’s Premiership winning season where Riyad Mahrez left three players on the ground. Whisper it, we think Radwan’s was better! In the end they lost out to Bath by two points in the final, but we’re still remembering that incredible semi final!

We attended the Download Festival in June, with a Visit Leicester stand inside the arena for the first time. We’re incredibly proud to have the second largest rock festival in the UK (behind Glastonbury) right here in Leicestershire! Our personal highlights included Opeth, Weezer and the mighty Green Day! Watch them below (the transition in the video deserves more love).

Same weekend, different vibe as Craig David brought the Flava to Leicester’s Abbey Park. Thousands of fans packed out the place to get down and enjoy a day of awesome R&B, soul and great summer vibes!

We were there before TikTok! Fulmore Farm near Cosby went viral thanks to their awesome milkshakes that you can buy from a vending machine. They were sold out at times, but we can vouch for these awesome treats which come straight from their herd of Jersey cows

Wistow Maze launched their design for 2025 with a steam train to celebrate Railway 200, the anniversary of rail travel in the UK. They teamed up with the Great Central Railway, where the earliest package tourism trip was held to showcase the power of steam!