Throughout October, Design Season is taking over Leicester with a series of creative and design-led events. Led by the city’s leading design businesses, as well as industry facing events, DS2 also offers a huge range of activities and events for families and the general public.

Until 25th October, Design Season (DS2) offers a chance for the local community to get involved in events including family-based activities, public talks, events, exhibitions and workshops.

Whether you have a LEGO mad toddler, or a teenager keen to immerse themselves in the world of tech, the DS2 programme is all about encouraging growth and discovery of the sector. For students there is also a wonderful opportunity to uncover the reality behind their future careers on the DS2 Open Studios Design Trail. Taking place on Saturday 19 October, 6 design businesses will open their doors to the public for a behind the scenes look at life in the sector. 

To find out where the events are taking place visitors can also download the DS2 interactive map by visiting www.gallerywithoutwalls.uk.

Some of the key event highlights include:

BRICKLive Outer Space Trail (11 – 20 October, various city centre locations)
As part of One Giant Leap Festival, BRICKLIVE® Outer Space Trail will bring 15 amazing models containing LEGO® bricks to venues around the city centre. Visitors will be able to see reconstructions of the rockets that took us to the moon and stand side-by-side with famous astronauts. The models will make up a trail around the city which can be followed using the LoyalFree app. Each model has its own unique QR code which can be scanned on the app, with a chance to win one of a selection of prizes – the more QR codes scanned, the more chances to win! One Giant Leap is sponsored by BID Leicester.

brick live

Retro Arcade Games in Space (11 – 20 October, screens across the city centre)
Get in touch with your inner gamer and play retro-style computer games inspired by the Moon landing! The games will be hosted on large-scale screens across the city. Simply come along and connect with your smartphone to take part. Have some fun, challenge your friends, or try and finish the week with the highest score on our public leaderboard!

Design your own virtual reality (Saturday 12 October)
Families are welcomed to Phoenix to create a design on paper, which can then be turned into a virtual world and viewed through a VR headset.

Easy Saturday (Saturday 12 October, LCB Depot)
Enjoy a day of free design activities to enjoy with your young ones. Creative activities for toddlers to 10 year olds (along with grown ups), including creating sock puppets, Draw Leicester, exploring narrative and building LEGO cities with LRSA. Plus look out for a special menu from GRAYS Coffee Shop & Kitchen.

Overview Effect (Friday 18 & Saturday 19 October, New Market Square)
Don’t miss this free projection mapping event in New Market Square. This breath-taking outdoor show celebrates the ambition and technical achievement of the 1969 moon landing, in the form of a psychedelic and atmospheric outdoor projection set to a stunning original soundtrack. From the surface of the moon, you’ll experience the view of the Apollo 11 astronauts, and understand their shift in understanding about the fragility of the planet we call home.

Designs for the Grand Egyptian Museum (Friday 18 October)
Leicester’s Hayley Sharpe Design has the honour of being exhibition consultants for the Phase II Galleries as the world awaits the opening of the state-of-the-art Grand Egyptian Museum near the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx of Egypt. This is your opportunity to find out more about the project.

DS2 Design Trail: Open Studios (Saturday 19 October)
A unique opportunity to see behind the scenes of Leicester’s design businesses as they open their studios. Follow the Design Season trail and meet businesses including Bulb Studios, PPL PRS Ltd, Leicester XR, Fullalove clothing and more. You can follow the trail by downloading  the free map via the Cuttlefish Mapps App.

Create Leicester Day Event (Thursday 24 October)
Create celebrates its first day long event with speakers from the BBC, FutureGov, The Co-op and more. Join diverse digital talent from across the UK and learn from a range of inspirational speakers. Tickets.

Teen Tech (Thursday 24 October, Morningside Arena)
The perfest opportunity for young people to discover the exciting careers possible in this contemporary industry. The day will involve a carefully planned and immersive programme which will help young people who may never have considered careers in tech understand the routes available to them. Visit www.teentech.com for more information.

The full programme for DS2 is available to view now from www.designseason.uk.