Abbey Park

Abbey Park

The park now has an area of 89 acres (36 ha), and has formal gardens, a sensory garden, a boating lake and model boat lake, a miniature railway operated by Leicester Society of Model Engineers since 1949, a visitor centre, cafe, children's play area with paddling pool, pets corner, tennis courts, a bowling green, and a bandstand. The park has regularly won the Green Flag Award, a national award made annually to parks which reach a high standard.

The park was the site of an annual flower show dating back to the 19th century, which included a swimming gala and evolved into the Abbey Park Show in the 1940s, with the addition a range of entertainment and displays. It continued until 1995, when it was abolished due to falling attendances and rising costs, although a return is periodically discussed. It was also the site of the Pageant of Leicester, held in 1932. The Abbey Park Festival was an annual music festival which was held for over twenty years from 1981. An annual bonfire and fireworks event is held in the park around Guy Fawkes Night.

The Abbey has been the site of training excavations by Archaeology students at Leicester University.

Since 2010 Abbey Park has housed the offices and studios of Takeover Radio within one of its Gatehouse Lodges.

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