On 12-15 March, Leicester city centre came alive with the much anticipated Light Up Leicester. The four day festival featured dazzling light installations, an abundance of diverse live performances and interactive events for all ages. Aiming to celebrate community, creativity and connection, Light up Leicester did all this and more, transforming the streets into a vibrant celebration of art and culture.
This years festival drew in immense crowds, showing more than 93,000 entrances made to Humberstone Gate, Gallowtree Gate and High Street during event hours. This was, on average, a 45% increase in footfall to the city centre in comparison to the same time on a standard given week – and also a 9% increase in footfall in comparison to 2022’s Light Up Leicester festival.
BID Leicester led the marketing campaign around the event, generating more than 5 million impressions across the campaign and an online reach of more than 2 million, through eye catching reels, stunning photos, and consistent promotion in the lead up to the festival. In addition to our own marketing campaign, the high number of influencers and general public creating a buzz around the event on social media should be noted too, reiterating the sense of community and level of excitement Light Up Leicester generated.
It’s estimated that an additional £4.5m was spent in the city centre during the four day period, a fantastic achievement for our local businesses, many of whom reported seeing an upturn in trade. The general public had the opportunity to take advantage of over twenty different restaurant offers, which were secured by our BID Street Ambassadors and created especially for the event.
Leicester City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “This was a superb event which has been very well received by the people attending and local businesses. It was wonderful to see so many families and people of all ages out in the city centre on every evening of the festival, enjoying the wonderful illuminations and parades, as well as the cafes, restaurants and bars.
“As well as highlighting the fantastic creative organisations we have here, the festival also demonstrated the power of partnership, with the city council, BID Leicester and other organisations working closely together to make this happen.
“We are also very grateful for the funding from Arts Council England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Global Streets, PPL PRS, and headline sponsor Highcross, which made it possible.
“It’s been three years since we last hosted Light up Leicester, and I hope that we can make it part of our festival calendar once again in the not too-distant future.”