Only in Leicester

Leicester is the UK’s most ethnically and culturally diverse city.

It has seen sustained inward migration certainly for decades, and perhaps for centuries. According to the 2021 Census, it was the UK’s most plural city, with no single religious or ethnic group making up more than 50% of the population.

Residents of Leicester speak over a hundred different languages, with just over 4 in 10 people living in the city born outside the UK. It is a young city, with a median age of 33, compared to 40 nationally.

Many of the people we spoke to talked about Leicester as a melting pot, a blend of cultures, ethnicities, worldviews and experiences, which have helped give rise to “only in Leicester” experiences. 

You can listen to clips relevant to this theme taken from the interviews we conducted below.