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Leicester Van Leasing

Did You Know?

Diwali, the Festival of Lights, is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains around the world and is one of the most significant festivals in Indian culture. Due to the large Indian population, there is no surprise that the festival is a big deal in our city, but did you know Leicester hosts the largest Diwali celebrations outside of India? The lights along the Leicester Golden Mile are usually turned on two weeks before Diwali day itself, with the festivities usually attracting up to 45,000 people each year!

I’m sure we’ve all been on a package holiday before, and most people have either heard of or been on holiday with Thomas Cook. However, did you know Thomas Cook himself organised the very first package holiday? A bespoke train trip from Leicester to Loughborough back in 1841..

First taking place in 1994, Leicester Comedy Festival is not only the longest running comedy festival in Europe, but it has grown to be the largest as well. The 2022 festival had an incredible line-up of more than 560 shows and 800 performances across 64 venues. It has also been dubbed as one of the best comedy festivals in the world!

Who hasn’t had a packet of Walkers crisps right? But did you know the famous crisp brand is from Leicester? That’s all thanks to butcher Henry Walker, who in 1948 took the potato and created a delicious new snack – Walkers Crisps.

It’s pretty obvious that Red Leicester cheese comes from Leicester, but did you know that famous delicacies the Melton Mowbray pork pie and Stilton cheese are also from Leicestershire? What’s more, they are both from Melton Mowbray and thanks to protected status, can only be made in this locality, just like the Champagne region in France!

Leicester’s history dates back more than 2000 years. Romans encountered an Iron Age settlement in Leicester in the 1st or 2nd century BC. The Jewry Wall Museum, which is on the site of the ruins, opened in 1966 and is currently undergoing an impressive renovation, which is part of an £18 million project to create an immersive experience that will transport visitors back to Roman Leicester

As we’ve just mentioned the University of Leicester & DNA fingerprinting it’s only right that we explain the link between the two. DNA fingerprinting has become fundamental in solving criminal cases and identifying inherited genetic diseases, as well as identifying lost kings. Did you know the technique was in fact discovered at the University of Leicester.

Leicester is the UK’s leading location for the space industry. We are home to the National Space Centre, a museum and educational resource covering the fields of space science and astronomy, along with a space research programme in partnership with the University of Leicester.