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Sponsorship Opportunities Diwali Leicester 2018

The Diwali events, celebrations and festivities rightly take pride of place as a key fixture in the city’s events calendar. During Diwali Leicester we see many communities come together to show off the city and what we stand for.

Sir Peter SoulsbyLeicester City Mayor

Celebrations is something we’re really good at and very few celebrations are better than Diwali in Leicester. It’s full of lively and varied events providing great opportunities for sponsorship to businesses of all sizes so that you can promote your brand or showcase new products to tens of thousands of Leicestershire folk and visitors.

Mike Kapur National Space CentreBusiness Ambassador for Diwali Leicester 2018

Sponsorship Opportunities Diwali Leicester 2018

Our City and Our People

Leicester is a place with big ideas and even bigger ambitions. It’s a dynamic place with fascinating heritage and culture, where businesses thrive and grow. We invest in our city and our people.

Leicester has over 2,000 years of

recorded history. It has one of the best cultural

offers in the country, with awards for its productions,

visitor attractions, events and sporting

achievements.

We have 3 universities renowned for research,

teaching and elite sports along with high performing

engineering and technology faculties.

PPL, IBM, Hastings Direct and Amazon have all recently invested in

Leicester, with Santander continuing to maintain their UK headquarters

in the city.

It is the 8th biggest city in England. Over 500,000 people work

in the city with a further 1.2 million living within commuting distance.

With 50,000 students currently living in the city there are over 1 million

talented graduates within a 45 minute radius.

Key sectors include: the creative industries; professional & financial

services; advanced manufacturing and

space science.

One of the most diverse communities

in the UK, our citizens speak more than 100

languages.

Around 20% of the population identifies as

Hindu, Sikh or Jain.

Leicester is extremely well-connected to other

central England cities and only one hour from

London by rail. East Midlands, Birmingham and Luton airports are

all easily accessible.

Leicester is a ‘young’ city with 55% of the

population under the age of 34.

Leicester equalled London in producing the fastest growing

businesses in England (UK Growth Dashboard).

Diwali, the ‘Festival of Light’, is an ancient festival, celebrated in India and across the world each autumn. Diwali marks the start of the Hindu new year and spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil and hope over despair.

Families have been celebrating Diwali in Leicester since the 1950s, with the local community first coming together to organise a Diwali festival in 1983. Since then, supported by the council, local businesses and community organisations, Leicester’s celebrations have grown to be the largest outside of India.

This is a street party like no other! Over 35,000 people of all faiths representing a wide cross-section of Leicester’s communities, students, national and international visitors regularly attend. The fantastic Diwali lights switch-on brings the Golden Mile alive with light and colour in an explosion of fireworks and over 6,000 lights, twinkling against the night sky.

The Diwali lights radiate out across the city in the form of a cultural event programme – from theatre performances to craft activities, cultural talks and exhibitions – there are events for people of all ages and cultures to learn about and get involved with the celebratory spirit of the festival.

The Event

View highlights from our Diwali 2017 Celebrations on You Tube.

Who Comes to Diwali Leicester?

WHY SPONSOR FESTIVALS?

Events and festivals today are big business – worth an estimated £42.3bn according to industry experts, Eventbrite.

This is a growing marketplace. Today’s consumers value experiences…your competitors recognise this so don’t get left out.

Festivals offer the biggest opportunity to connect with your customers on a mass scale, through social interaction and wide-ranging media coverage.

Diwali Leicester offers a wonderful opportunity to engage with new potential audiences who might want to try your products or get to know your company through permanent locations or existing channels.

Let’s work together to create a tailored message that showcases your brand and its message to the people that matter to you.

65% were city residents, 25% came for the wider Leicestershire area whilst 13% travelled from places such as Birmingham and beyond.

43% found out about the celebrations through our website, digital media and press. 57% knew about the event through word-of-mouth.

38% of visitors attended for the first time.

A great mix of communities - 58% were Asian, 34% were White, with growing numbers of Chinese and others (8%).

25% of attendees were under 25, with 69% aged 25-60.

Diwali Leicester is now an established two week festival. In 2018 it will run from the 26 October to 11 November 2018, with Diwali Day on the 7 November. As part of the 15-day celebrations there are opportunities to support the programme’s major events, which are assisted and organised by Leicester City Council.

Diwali Lights Switch-On CeremonySunday 28 October 2018 Over 35,000 people gather in anticipation to enjoy vibrant music and colourful dance performances. As our 6,000 famous lights are switched on to a fanfare of fireworks the city is joined in a celebration of the victory of light over darkness.

Diwali Mela Bazaar, City Centre Saturday 3 November 2018 A flavour of Diwali, experience a feast of Indian shopping, delicious cuisines, arts & crafts and live stage entertainment from Leicester Belgrave Mela and Asian commercial radio station Sabras.

Diwali Day CelebrationsWednesday 7 November 2018 Celebrations for Diwali Day continue on the Golden Mile and the Cossington Street Recreation Ground as over 40,000 people enjoy a cultural stage programme, street entertainers, food stalls, fashion, gifts and a spectacular fireworks display.

The Offer

As a Diwali Leicester partner, there are many exciting ways to create a lasting impact on your customers and clients alike:• Put your brand in front of customers and consumers • Create fans, engage in a conversation and connect to your customers • Product placement opportunities, sales and sampling • Corporate hospitality • Location / event sponsorship, and site branding • Showcase your technology, products and/or tech • Enormous feel-good factor and goodwill • Be part of a social media buzz with great PR opportunities• Achieve something that your brand cannot achieve on its own

ONE YEAR EXCLUSIVE SPONSORSHIP OF DIWALI LIGHTS SWITCH-ON AND DIWALI DAY £ 35,000 + VAT

THREE YEARS’ EXCLUSIVE SPONSORSHIP OF DIWALI LIGHTS SWITCH-ON AND DIWALI DAY £ 90,000 + VAT

Digital Media

285,000 reach

133,000 web hits

66.1K impressions 2,270 profile visits

#diwalileicester trending in Leicester

Media Coverage

Winner: Asian Media Awards 2015 Best Live Event – Diwali Lights Switch-On

The celebrations are covered by local press, radio and the TV stations BBC East Midlands Today and ITV Central, who frequently broadcast live from the event. International TV and news organisations also attend. The sponsor can be assured of local, national and international media coverage and exposure for your brand.

Your company could benefit from the following promotion and involvement:

• Logo on the front cover and internal advertisement in the printed Diwali Guide (52 pages, 45,000 print run). • Your logo on 15,000 A5 flyers and 150 posters, distributed throughout the Leicester area.• Your logo on festival posters at 14 JCDecaux poster sites around the city over 4 weeks.• Your logo on banner at the Cossington Recreation Park 2 weeks prior to event.• Banner on-site during event, branding and advert potential on big screen at the event.• Presence and promotion on city website visitleicester.info. • A PDF/online format Diwali Guide and promotion on Visit Leicester website.• Verbal acknowledgement by city ambassadors including City Mayor, before, during and after the event.• Hospitality for your guests at a pre-event gathering and stage-side access.

• On-stage participation during the official Switch-On Ceremony for the Diwali Lights. • Promotional opportunities during the key Diwali Leicester events – on Belgrave Road during Diwali Lights Switch-On – on Belgrave Road for Diwali Day – in Cossington Street Recreation Ground during Diwali Day – at the Diwali Mela Bazaar in Leicester City Centre

This list is not exhaustive and additional benefits can be developed, specifically tailored to your requirements.

Media Quotes

For further information, or if you would like to discuss your interest, please contact:

A spectacle that’s like Christmas, the Blackpool

Illuminations and the Oxford Street sales

rolled into one Telegraph

Leicester boasts the biggest celebrations

outside India.The Golden Mile, Melton Road, is lit up with

thousands of coloured lights and decorations

Asian Life/BBC

Leicester has the third-largest Hindu

population in England and the city’s Golden Mile is one of the best

places to discover Indian culture and food without leaving Britain

The Guardian

@leicesterfest’s #DiwaliLeicester is one of the biggest celebrations of the ‘festival of lights’

outside of India and #GlobalBritain #Diwali

UK Foreign Office

Maggie Shutt MBEFestivals & Events ManagerLeicester City CouncilCity Hall, 115 Charles StreetLeicester LE1 1FZTelephone: 0116 454 3601Maggie.Shutt@leicester.gov.uk

Other Opportunities

We can also consider tailored packages or joint-sponsor agreements. A variety of sponsorship opportunities are available for Leicester’s Festivals and Events throughout the year. These will be promoted at leicester.gov.uk/festivals and advertised on the Source Leicestershire portal at sourceleicestershire.co.uk