Thousands of shoppers flocked to Leeds city centre for the ten day shopping extravaganza, which ended yesterday.

Leeds Shopping Week, coordinated by City Centre Management and Marketing Leeds with support from Leeds Retail Association, is the city’s annual shopping festival showcasing Leeds’ contemporary and cosmopolitan retail offer, highlighting all that Leeds loves about retail therapy.

The fourth annual festival, which ran from 15th-25th October, saw a unique mix of fabulous events, most of which were free, including fashion shows, makeovers and fairs, held at various venues in the city centre. There were also hotel, restaurant and pampering packages available throughout the city centre over the full ten days so shoppers could shop and then drop!

The festival made a dramatic entrance on 15th October with a Las Vegas ‘Shopping Affair’ in the Victoria Quarter, celebrating the glamour of the 1960s.

LK Bennett hosted daily mini fashion shows throughout the festival, where guests received styling advice and complimentary drinks. Heidi Range and former Eurovision hopeful Jade from the Sugababes attended an event in the Royal Armouries main hall, where Taio Cruz performed for 900 guests.

Mary Portas made an appearance at The Light to judge a ‘Design a Bag’ competition, which challenged students from Leeds College of Art to design a new Festive Leeds bag for use throughout the city at Christmas, which was won by 21 year old Shahena Begun.

The festival also allowed shoppers to give a little something back with a number of charity events, including a pampering evening at Henry’s, in aid of Running for Helen (Marie Curie Cancer Care), and an ActionAid family friendly festival on Briggate, with live music, entertainment and world food demonstrations.

The Living Room hosted a night of fashion shows with latest designs from independent designer, The Hidden Wardrobe, plus tips on how to walk like a model.

The final weekend saw the last day of the Paul Smith Mini on display in the Victoria Quarter, plus ActionAid organised a Yorkshire Walks the World event in Roundhay Park – a free family walk to relax after the shopping extravaganza!

Deborah Green, chief executive of Marketing Leeds said “Our role at Marketing Leeds is to raise the profile of the city on the national and international stage. This year’s Leeds Shopping Week, the fourth the city has hosted, has helped to do just that - highlight the city’s strengths in retail to a wider audience. The festival, with its mix of exciting events and The Business of Retail thought leadership debate, attracted thousands of visitors plus national media attention, which has helped demonstrate that Leeds is a premier retail destination.”

Cath Follin, City Centre Manager added: “We are delighted with the turnout for Leeds Shopping Week and would like to offer a great big thank you to all the businesses involved in the festival as well as everyone who attended the events. Feedback from retailers and venues in the city has been positive and it was a delight to see so many people enjoying the experiences on offer, whilst using their Leeds Loves Shopping bags.”

Although the festival is over, Leeds Shopping Week is still offering one lucky winner the chance to win over £2000 worth of delightful ‘Leeds loves’ products and services, which have been donated by various retailers and businesses in the city. The closing date is 1st November.

For more information and to enter this competition, visit www.leedsshoppingweek.co.uk.

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