December 14, 2022
Christmas in Leicester
First Christmas in Leicester and you're wondering what there is to do? We've got your weekends covered.
Hello All!
Christmas is only 11 days away, and although a lot of you finished your final class of the semester and got on the first flight home, there are some of you who are still about.
But what exactly is there to do in Leicester during the festive period?
Besides all the streets, and the Lanes, being covered in Christmas lights. One of the most Christmassy places to go during the festive period is Jubilee Square – some of you might know it as the bit next to Mosh. At Jubilee Square, there’s a 110-feet “Christmas Wheel of Light” Ferris wheel which gives you a view of the whole of Leicester when you’re at the top. Jubilee Square is also where you’ll find the Ice Rink of Leicester, giving you a chance to glide across some ice and hope you don’t fall over. There’s also a fair stand on the walk from one activity to the other, ready for the Christmas-goers to fill up on Candyfloss instead of having a proper tea. All of this is available until Monday 2nd January 2023.
If Ferris wheels and ice skating isn’t your thing, there is also a small funfair down Humberstone Gate, or the place where Primark is on. Rides cover teacups to flying through the air, where you can get off and help yourself to the donut stand next door.
One thing we love in England, is a good pantomime, and we love them at Christmas.
If you’re unsure what a pantomime/panto is, it’s a piece of theatre where the audience is encouraged to sing along and shout back at the actors on stage, they’re also adapted slightly from the original. We’re lucky in Leicester to have a small handful of theatres. De Montfort Hall’s panto for 2022 is “Cinderella”. Cinderella is a Disney classic, where Cinderella works day and night for her evil step family, before she gets invited to the ball at the Royal Palace which the Prince has thrown so he can look for a wife.
Cinderella is on until Monday 2nd January 2023.
One thing about pantos, is that they’re already quite popular films. A short 20-minute walk away from Cinderella’s De Montfort hall, there is The Curve’s “The Wizard of Oz”. The Wizard of Oz is a classic, that originally came out in 1939. The panto still joins Dorothy and dog Toto as they’re swept away from Kansas in a tornado to somewhere … not quite as it seems. They’re joined by Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion as they follow the yellow brick road to where? “Toto, I’ve got a funny feeling we aren’t in Leicester anymore”.
The Wizard of Oz is on until Sunday 8th January 2023.
Leicester has an incredible selection of independent bars to visit, who have all got a Christmas menu of drinks ready. All decorated with their Christmas trees and fairy lights. Not only do they have their own cocktails, thought of by the staff behind the bars, they’ll also be selling mulled wine – a true Christmas staple.
One new thing this Christmas is in Highcross, the heart and soul of Leicester City Centre shopping, some may say. Every Sunday, there will be a little bit of ballet on the bottom floor. There will be some of the UK’s best ballroom dancers right before your very eyes!
Besides the food and family time, there is one thing that makes the festive season what it is: Christmas films. Leicester’s Guildhall is spending Sunday 18th December, a week until Christmas, showing Christmas films. There will be a range of Christmas films shown throughout the day, starting with “The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)” at 12:30pm, followed by “The Shop Around the Corner (1940)” and ending with a well-loved Christmas classic – “It’s a Wonderful Life (1946).