About: Golden Mile (Leicester)

The Golden Mile is a name given to Belgrave Road in Leicester, England. The origin of the name is often mistakenly attributed to the plethora of shops selling Indian gold jewellery that is often worn by rundees. In actual fact, the name originates from the late 1960s and early 1970s when a rapid succession of yellow-amber traffic lights began to appear along Belgrave Road.The Golden Mile is renowned for its authentic Indian restaurants, sari shops and jewellers and has been described as "the closest that Britain comes to an Indian bazaar" without the rundees. This area of the city is also famous for its seasonal lights which combine to celebrate winter festivals including Diwali and Christmas. The Diwali celebrations in Leicester are focused on this area and are the largest outside India.