2025 in review part 2

And here we are, time for part 2 of our massive wrap up of 2025. What with our summer campaign and all of the amazing things happening through the autumn into Christmas, there was no letting up for the second half of the year, so let’s get on with it!

The longest awaited opening in history, Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was the Jewry Wall Museum which finally reopened in July after a massive refurbishment. Containing more than 100 Roman artefacts found across Leicester and Leicestershire plus fantastic interactive displays, this is the perfect day out and way to learn more about our 2000 years of history!

The Coldplay Kisscam went viral in July, and of course we had to get in on that action with this cheeky Richard III themed tribute to the moment. We’re sure him and Henry were good friends despite that whole Battle of Bosworth thing.

It was the 60^th anniversary of the opening of East Midlands Airport (which is absolutely in Leicestershire!) and there was a special event at East Midlands Aeropark, which included a flypast by the one and only Red Arrows!

All summer long the elephants came to town with Loros’ Stomp Round Leicester! Raising money to fund their hospices, this was the perfect example of a great fun family event with the very best of causes at its heart. In the end, the elephants were sold at auction, raising £286,000 for the charity!

The Leicester Food Festival returned to Abbey Park for a second year and it was bigger and better in every way. More great food, more fantastic music, more demonstrations and much more fun!

It was the 40^th edition of Leicester’s Caribbean Carnival this summer and the city came together with island spirit and great food and music to celebrate Caribbean culture. The parade and part in Victoria Park is one of the most iconic carnival atmospheres in the UK and 2025 was no exception.

The Brewbeat festival, run by BID Leicester, has become a quintessential part of the bank holiday weekend. Their combination of great live music, proper craft ales and cocktails plus street food from independent businesses across the city is always a winner!

And final for August, it was time for the city’s LGBTQ+ community to celebrate with the flamboyant and colour Leicester Pride. A fun filled parade through the city centre and a fantastic part in the city Abbey Park make this an unmissable end to summer in Leicester.

There was some fantastic new Street Art added to St Martin’s Square in the city centre, making it seem like you’re entering a walk-through aquarium. We absolutely love the glow up that Graffwerk bring to Leicester!

We joined the Everard Meadows Dog Walk in aid of Age UK. They hold these regularly and they’re a fantastic way to meet new people, explore the area and of course, raise money for a fantastic cause!

The Leicestershire Curry Awards celebrated the very best of Leicester and Leicestershire’s Indian restaurant scene, with a gala ceremony at the Athena in Leicester announcing the winners! Find out who took away the prizes here.

Jewry Wall had a visit by Royal Appointment! The Duke of Edinburgh came to see the new museum and officially open it (though it had been open for a while at that point! He was very impressed by the history, the stories and the exhibits!

As the country marked 80 years since the end of World War II, The Victory Show paid its own tribute to the fallen, in typically bombastic style. The largest WWII recreation event in the UK is right here in Leicestershire and featured flypasts, static displays and a full tank battle. Not to mention many opportunities to reflect on the sacrifices made by soldiers during the war.

For the first time ever, Leicester Restaurant Week became a fortnight, as restaurants, pubs and cafés across the city offered amazing deals on their menus. This really is one of the foodie highlights of the year!

While there was a different look to Leicester’s Diwali Celebrations this year, the community carried on, unperturbed and we say celebrations across the temples, shops and restaurants of the Golden Mile and further afield.

For Halloween Leicester was transformed with a spooky Ghost Hunt organised by BID Leicester. Some of the city’s most iconic locations became haunted for a short time (though in the case of the Guildhall, we hear they have their own resident spirits) in this fun trail for families to explore.

We scared ourselves silly at the Twinlakes Xtreme Scream Park for Halloween. This is one of the biggest and best scare attractions in the UK, and definitely not for kids. With 7 massive mazes filled with shocking scares and actors who really get into the character, if you’re brave enough then this is the perfect night out for spooky season.

We welcomed top influencers Mr & Mrs Yorkshire for a very special tour of Leicestershire. They went all across the county, from Twycross Zoo to the National Space Centre, but for Danny, who used to run RateMyTakeaway, the real highlight was sampling a pork pie platter in the home of this iconic dish, Melton Mowbray.

The Christmas lights went on in Leicester with more than 10,000 people packing the streets of Leicester to a soundtrack of brass bands, festive tunes and general merriment. Stars of the De Montfort Hall panto, Leicester City players and Filbert Fox were there to turn on the lights as Christmas in Leicester truly began!

The ice rink came back better than ever this year. Ice Skate Leicester was expanded with brand new features including Street Curling, an arcade around the rink, which was also open to the general public for viewing, plus self service skate hire. They’re still open until 4 January, including sessions on Christmas Day, so get your skates on and book!

Four of our Leicestershire attractions were honoured by VisitEngland’s quality assurance programme. This independently judged set of awards recognises those venues who provide an excellent visitor experience and great customer service. Take a look and see who got the nod.

December started with the Leicestershire Tourism & Hospitality Awards. This annual event celebrates the very best tourism and hospitality businesses and attractions from across the county in a gala dinner at Leicester’s Athena venue. Find out who the winners were here!

In one of the most moving and celebratory moments of the year, Stand Up to Cancer and Channel 4 chose Leicester as their location for the Tribute Mile Lantern Trail. 5,000 lanterns were created in a workshop in Highcross during the week before the event, with submissions coming from across the country. Every single lantern was a tribute to someone lost to cancer, and the results were, as you can see, stunning.

For Christmas we teamed up with Leicester City Football Club for Filbert’s Present Hunt, a fun trail around the city with great prizes to be won. This formed a key part of our Christmas promotions, with the chance to explore key locations around Leicester and help the foxy mascot find his missing gifts.

Speaking of foxy mascots, we launch our brand new AI chatbot FOXI! Designed to give you answers to any query you might have about Leicester and Leicestershire, FOXI only draws information from our website, so you can guarantee the information is good quality. You can test it out here.

And finally, a regal Christmas was the order of the day at Belvoir Castle, as they brought back their festive decorations after a year off in 2024. Always absolutely stunning, Belvoir’s Magical Night Before Christmas transformed the regency castle into a winter wonderland.