Welcome Students of the World finishes with a bang!

NE1’s spectacular 25 day celebration welcoming 80,000 students from 152 different countries into the UK’s friendliest city drew to a close last night with a breath-taking fireworks display in Leazes Park.

Newcastle NE1, the city’s Business Improvement District (BID), devised and delivered the first ever city-wide event dedicated to welcoming students from all institutions into the city this year. The multitudes of students who flood in throughout September bring an amazing £1.3 billion to the city’s economy, and this year have been welcomed with searchlights scanning the sky every evening, ceremonial flags throughout the city, and two fireworks displays.

The event has had tongues wagging for weeks as people queried the origins of the searchlights, and the flags dispersed within the city, and now the people of Newcastle can finally settle at night, safe in the knowledge that they are not witnessing an alien invasion as many originally suggested the searchlights were.

These searchlights have beamed from seven of the city’s most iconic buildings, scanning the sky between 8pm and Midnight every evening, as a symbolic welcome to Newcastle.

The city has also been flooded with colour, with the display of 152 different flags representing the nationalities of students in Newcastle. You couldn’t miss the 6 metre high flagpoles on Ceremonial Way at Newcastle Civic Centre, alongside flags draped at Central Station, over Grey Street and at Newcastle International Airport.

Sadly though, last night’s huge firework display marked an end to a fabulous couple of weeks in which the latest influx of students has been embraced by the entire city as they settle into their new home. Now it’s time to hit the books!