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Leeds city centre has enjoyed its busiest day for five years, as the arrival of the festive season prompted a seasonal surge in shoppers and visitors.

High-tech cameras positioned at key locations across the city centre recorded their highest footfall figure since 2019 on November 30, the second weekend of the city’s Christmas market.

The cameras, which measure the total numbers of people passing by cameras in eight areas including Briggate, The Headrow and Albion Street, recorded a total footfall of 327,346, that day.

Despite some difficult weather conditions, the run-up to Christmas has also seen the city tally similarly impressive numbers, with cameras tracking more than a million people between December 12 and 15, with a total footfall of 1,006,180 in that period.

Total city centre footfall across the whole year was also 1.3 per cent higher than in 2023, with footfall at Leeds train station 11 per cent higher than last year.

Coun Jonathan Pryor, Leeds City Council’s deputy leader and executive member for economy, transport and sustainable development, said: “It’s inspiring to see the city centre doing this well in the face of a challenging financial climate coupled with some extremely difficult weather conditions, and the resilience of our local economy is there for all to see in these impressive numbers.

“This is also a real reflection of the partnership work which goes on across the city’s many different organisations, businesses and cultural attractions, who each year come up with an engaging and exciting programme of events and activities which make Leeds such a unique and attractive place to visit.”

He added: “The innovative use of our public spaces, including the fantastic Christmas market on City Square, has also really helped bring Leeds to life these past few weeks and as a city, we can all look forward to Christmas with a sense of pride in what we have accomplished together and optimism for the year ahead.”

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This year’s Christmas market has seen around 70 traditional stalls on City Square and the Millennium Square areas, with pop-up musical performances and Christmas food and drink along with outdoor bars on City Square, Victoria Gardens and Millennium Square.

The market has once again been delivered by Marketplace Europe, one of the UK’s largest Christmas market operators, at no cost to Leeds City Council.

From last weekend a spectacular animated projection has been taking place on The Queens Hotel on City Square, commissioned by Leeds BID.

This year’s Christmas market has run alongside the popular Ice Cube at Christmas ice skating rink on Millennium Square and Victoria Gardens. Free city centre attractions such as Leeds City Museum and Leeds Art Gallery have also been running a programme of events, activities and exhibitions. The Leeds Christmas Market will be in the city until December 22, 2024. Ice Cube will run until December 31, 2024.

Steven Foster, centre director at Trinity Leeds, said: “It’s been an incredible year and it’s great to see it capped off with a remarkable rise in footfall – so far in December we’ve already had an extraordinary increase of 23 per cent more guests in the centre compared to the same period last year, so it’s set to be a bumper Christmas for Trinity Leeds.”

* For more details on planning your Christmas in Leeds this year, visit: www.visitleeds.co.uk/winter-season

Huge rise in Leeds city centre footfall as more than 325,000 visit major shopping routes in a single day

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