City Festival, August, 2014
Page last edited: 19th October 2014
The City Festival
took place between 16th and 25th August.
The ten day event included The Mela, Sky Ride, Our Leicester Day, Sports Fest. Night Of Festivals Journeys Festival, Cosmopolitan Carnival and The Old Town Festival. During the festival a wide variety of activities and entertainment were on offer, including arts, music, dance, cultural and heritage events. The festival concluded with the Leicester Mela which was held in the city centre on bank holiday Monday, 25th August.
Music stage
On Sunday 24th August there was a big music stage on Humberstone Gate. Bill-boards were dotted around the city centre giving the lineup of bands and artists for the day. Free programmes were available from most music venues and from the tourist information shop and libraries.
In the run-up to the event, many of Leicester’s music venues were invited to put on City Festival showcases, representing a wide cross-section of bands, singers and artists from our local music scene. The venues that participated in this then had their nominated acts perform on the main stage.
On Saturday 23rd August, The Cosmopolitan Carnival celebrated the wonderful melting pot of different cultures living in Leicester through every imaginable art form. The event included a multicultural dance procession, main stage with Leicester’s best bands performing including By The Rivers (acoustic) in Jubilee Square, St Martins Square hosted a variety of local performances including spoken word and acoustic sessions, and there was a vast array of arts based workshops including Dj-ing and African drumming.
An art gallery, resident graffiti artists, sculpture creation and a reggae sound system formed part of this event. The event culminated in a grand finale – a large-scale film projection performance outside BBC Radio Leicester, which included music, dance and a fire display. Music, drumming, a re-enactment from the time of Richard III, Morris Dancers and plenty of activity for children and young people were on offer.
As part of the launch of the festival bands, dancers and singers were on hand at the Clock Tower.
The festival was organised by Leicester City Council.
