Some of Bollywood’s biggest film stars are coming to Leicester for a huge new festival. The two-day event will be held at the home of the Leicester Tigers in Welford Road.
Promoters are set to unveil details of the major event in the coming weeks and it is expected that a number of household names have signed up, according to insiders. The event is due to take place over the first weekend of this July, the Mirror reports.
It is expected that more than 30,000 people will attend the Leicester Tigers’ stadium, Mattioli Woods Welford Road over the course of the two-day festival. A source described the upcoming event as “a celebration of the UK’s diverse population and culture”.
The festival is set to showcase international Bollywood artists as well as British and local talent.
“Bollywood is hugely popular in the UK and they are expecting unprecedented demand for tickets when it’s finally announced,” the source said. “Talks have been ongoing with a variety of Bollywood stars over the last two years, and they are finally now in a place to announce it.”
Bollywood is acclaimed as one of the biggest film industries in the world producing more than 1,000 films each year – twice as many as Hollywood. And Leicester could be seen as one of its adoptive homes outside of the subcontinent.
The spectacular influence of Bollywood film has long been a huge part of Leicester’s diverse culture, with many new arrivals in the sixties and seventies naming some of the city’s renowned local businesses after iconic films. The city has also been visited by some of the biggest names in the business, including the likes of the late singer, Lata Mangeshkar and actor Amitabh Bachan.
