Saturday Heritage Fair is a FREE city centre heritage event on Saturday 11th October between 10:00-15:00 at the Leicester Adult Education Centre, 54 Belvoir Street, LE1 6QL.
Saturday Heritage Fair is open to the public to explore and engage with the display stands, free talks, documentary screening, and workshops on offer.
- Are you now the custodian of family heritage items and want to find out more about them?
- Is your community group in the early stages of developing a heritage collection?
- Are you thinking about growing an existing collection?
If the answer is ‘YES” to either of these questions, then the Saturday Heritage Fair will help you find what you are looking for with the help of the Independent Heritage Network.
Find out more about independent heritage projects being developed across all areas of Leicester & Leicestershire, and how to get involved through sharing your own lived experience.
Timetable
08:30 The Old Library Cafe opens in Leicester Adult Education Centre
10:00 Hansom Hall and Basement Gallery open with stalls (see Exhibitors list below)
The DOCSpace Exhibition located in the Basement Gallery has a heritage focused participatory mixed-media exhibit about the Turkey Cafe designed by popular Leicester architect, Arthur Wakerley. The lovely Turkey headpiece was created by Samantha Jayne Peberdy and the artwork by Amy Lenton. Also, I’m delighted to say that Ken Ogborn AKA Ken the Actor has taken on the challenge of becoming Arthur Wakerley! Please stop him and have a conversation about his model for council houses and why did he choose the turkey for his cafe?
11:00 Talk hosted by Colin Hyde – How to use audio archives – examples from the East Midlands Oral History Archives. Talk in Digital Media Hub (DMH) 1st floor – use the left hand flight of stairs under the Clock or the lift.
11:30 – 13:00 Afghan Language & Research Cafe hosted by Qadir Bayat – an opportunity to try out conversations in Farsi, Pashto & English. Session funded by The Centre for Ethnic Health Research (CEHR) and facilitated by Anita Barrand, Community Engagement Officer.
12:30 Talk hosted by Megg Nicol – Lawrence Wright, a Leicester-born composer and music publisher, founded the music journal Melody Maker in 1926. Talk in Classroom E1 in the Basement – use the stairs down to the Basement Gallery or the lift.
13:00 Talk hosted by David Humberston – St. George’s Church, Ypres – built to honour the British and Commonwealth fallen of both world wars but principally the First World War. Built in 1927 it remains a superb place of remembrance and somewhere where families and individuals connected to ‘the fallen’ in Flanders Fields can find a moment of quiet, calm and reflection. Talk in Digital Media Hub (DMH) 1st floor – use the left hand flight of stairs under the Clock or the lift.
13:30 An exclusive 8-minute premier screening of Qadir’s new documentary called Room 25. ‘In Manchester, an Afghan teenager is trapped between memories and silence. Room 25 is a true story of loneliness, migration and hope.’ Talk in Classroom E1 in the Basement – use the stairs down to the Basement Gallery or the lift.
14:00 Talk hosted by Tom Wilson – Memories of Living Well Together, St Philips Centre Lottery Funded Project. Talk in Digital Media Hub (DMH) 1st floor – use the left hand flight of stairs under the Clock or the lift.
Talks Programme rooms: E1 (basement classroom) & Digital Media Hub (1st floor)
15:00 Close
So far, we have the following confirmed Exhibitors:
East Midlands Oral History Archive
Heritage Hub (University of Leicester)
Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society, Natural History Section
Pocket Museum (Grow Social Capital)
MACE (Media Archive for Central England)
Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society
Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society
Tatakai: A Game of Covert Warfare
The Leicestershire & Rutland branch of the Western Front Association
Greater Wigston Historical Society
Sound Postcards Project – Parveenben’s
Ride Leicester – 20 Years of Cycling Promotions
Vision FM Archive supported by Impact Radio
Serendipity Institute of Black Arts and Heritage – join the FREE guided tour of their Archives on Bowling Green Street at 12:00 (register your name on their table)
Memories of Living Well Together – St Philips Centre
Conflict Memory Education Centre
Rudy’s Crew (RAF Stories by Paul Aldwinckle)
Windrush Memories (Kaine Management)
Leicester & Leicestershire Events Showreel (Leigh Spencer)
Book stall hosted by Ned Newitt – ‘Housing the People of Leicester’ (published October 2025) and ‘Leicester’s Victorian Blasphemers and the Secular Hall, a History’(published by the Leicester Pioneer Press) plus second-hand books and a display of pictures on social housing in Leicester during the 20th Century.
Workshops in Basement Gallery – also hosting DOCSpace Exhibition of mixed-media (29th Sept-17th Oct).
Museum in a Box – bring along personal family, military or civilian service items you’d like to include e.g. photos, maps, documents, cuttings, objects like badges etc. Packs on sale £7.50 each, and all construction materials supplied. You can construct during the workshop with support or take the pack home. Children welcome. Hosted by Tina Barton, Director of Education & Engagement at the Documentary Media Centre.
Scrapbooking – FREE family friendly workshop – Scrapbooking is often seen as a personal hobby – a way to keep photographs, letters, and memorabilia together. It can also be a useful tool for family history research and community heritage projects. Scrapbooks bring together different types of material in one place and make it easier to tell stories that connect past and present. Hosted by Tina Barton, Director of Education & Engagement at the Documentary Media Centre, and supported by the Leicestershire & Rutland Family History Society and Leicester Adult Education.
Keyring Making – join Amelia to design and make your own heritage themed key ring. Create your own design using the heritage themed materials provided, make the keyring and take it home. Family learning activity.
Charnwood Ukrainian Community Association – display & embroidery workshop.
“The spread of Ukrainian culture is an extremely important matter, especially today, when preservation of national identity takes on a new, even deeper meaning. In the Association, we strive to share the wealth of Ukrainian traditions with the wider world. I am personally engaged in embroidery and I am pleased to tell about the traditions of Ukrainian embroidery, because it is not just a craft – it is a living history of our people. I am inspired by the beauty of the ornaments: I can spend hours looking at patterns, reading their symbols, imagining the story they tell.
We are glad that our exhibition draws attention and causes sincere interest, because it testifies to the relevance and power of Ukrainian culture. It is our joint contribution to preserving and developing our cultural heritage so that it lives, sounds and inspires future generations. The promotion of Ukrainian culture is an extremely important endeavour, especially today, as the preservation of national identity takes on a deeper and more urgent meaning. At the Association, we strive to share the richness of Ukrainian traditions with the wider world. I personally practise embroidery and take great pleasure in speaking about the traditions of Ukrainian needlework, as it is not merely a craft — it is a living history of our people. I find deep inspiration in the beauty of the patterns: I can spend hours studying the designs, reading into their symbols, and imagining the stories they tell. Through embroidery, I seek to convey the depth and strength of the Ukrainian spirit.
Every conversation about our traditions feels like a mission — to carry Ukrainian heritage into the world and speak of it with love and pride. This is our collective contribution to preserving and developing our cultural heritage, so that it may continue to live, resonate, and inspire future generations.” Alina Blyzniuk
The EBB – join the Dream Square workshop running throughout the event.
Samantha Jayne Peberdy – Flowers have always been part of our heritage, used in rituals, celebrations, and daily life to express love, remembrance, and hope. Across cultures and generations, each bloom carries its own story, symbolising beauty, resilience, and human connection. During the Saturday Heritage Fair please enjoy my display, create your own abstract flower using vibrant coloured paper, and add it to our big vase to celebrate our community.
Masking Group – artists Tilly Wheatley & Donna Sharmaine, curated by Miffy Ryan, will deliver a visual storytelling workshop (90 mins).
Specials:
Research Project Public Engagement: Conflicting Place-based Pasts: Reconciling Institutional and Community Photographic Heritage in the Midlands.
Researcher details: Victoria Shaw is a PhD student, funded by Midlands4Cities through the Arts and Humanities Research Council, in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Humanities at De Montfort University, Leicester.
What is the purpose of this study? This project aims to study:
● The kinds of historical photographs that are used by heritage institutions in the Midlands, such as museums, archives and libraries, as well as the kinds of historical photographs used by local communities in the area.
● The ways these historical photographs are used, including how they are grouped and presented to local people.
● The local past events, people, places and experiences that are important to these institutions and communities in the Midlands.
● The way people experience modern life in the Midlands.
Vortex Museum – Discover newly made virtual rooms to explore with the eclectic Vortex Museum at www.thevortexmuseum.com exclusively created for the DOCSpace mixed-media exhibition (29th Sept – 17th October) in the Basement Gallery and Instagram collaborations with the Documentary Media Centre to digitally present archival items, curation, ephemera and advertising for the Saturday Heritage Fair – Founder, Paul Vernon.
Soar Sound – Soar Sound Radio will be broadcasting live from the Saturday Heritage Fair at Leicester’s Adult Education College. Throughout the day, the team will record vox-pops, capture stories, and invite visitors and exhibitors to share their experiences of local history and heritage. The live coverage will bring the atmosphere of the fair to listeners while giving participants the chance to hear their voices on air. Exhibitors will also be featured, highlighting their projects and community work. Alongside the broadcast, visitors will be able to try their hand at becoming a community reporter, learning how to gather interviews and record material for radio. These contributions will feed into future programmes, ensuring the conversations continue beyond the day itself. By combining live coverage, story collection, and practical learning, Soar Sound will make the fair both an engaging showcase and an opportunity to experience community radio in action.
Radio LEAR – Radio Lear will be part of the Saturday Heritage Fair with a focus on sound and storytelling. The team will showcase vintage analogue and digital media equipment, giving visitors the chance to explore the tools that shaped radio and recording in past decades. Alongside this, extracts from the East Midlands Oral History archive of the 1980s will be relayed, bringing voices and memories from the region’s past back into the present. Volunteers will also be learning how to make field recordings during the event, capturing the sounds of the fair itself. These recordings will later be compiled into a soundscape to be broadcast on Radio Lear, blending heritage voices, live atmospheres, and creative interpretation. The project demonstrates how sound can connect past and present, while offering hands-on experience in the skills of radio production and community storytelling.
Evington Echo – The Evington Echo will be at the Saturday Heritage Fair offering volunteers the chance to develop skills as community reporters, photographers, and storytellers. Visitors who take part will learn how to capture stories from exhibitors and fellow visitors, gather images that reflect the spirit of the day, and shape reports that highlight local heritage. These contributions may be published in future editions of the Evington Echo, giving participants the opportunity to see their work in print and share it with the wider community. The Echo team will be on hand to guide volunteers through the process, offering advice and encouragement on how to turn observations and conversations into published stories. This involvement provides a hands-on introduction to community journalism, while also ensuring that the stories and memories shared at the fair are recorded and passed on, strengthening the sense of belonging and connection across Leicester.
Doc Media Centre 
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