There are so many things I love about Leeds. I love the nightlife and the food, the buildings and the buzz, I love the feeling of coming home as I sit on a train and watch the skyline slide into view. But most of all I love how inclusive the city feels, the number of places you can go and see people of all ages, races, styles and professions mingling together, united by their love for a bar, or a cause, or some bloody good food. Let’s be honest – after the last few weeks, we could all do with a bit of unity.

On Friday night I went to Big Disco. There was nothing to drink but beer, the bar queues were huge, it rained…and I had one of the most fun nights out I’ve had in ages. Why was that? The DJs? (They were pretty good.) The food stalls? (Well the hotdog I had was AMAZING.) The world’s biggest disco ball hanging over our heads? (Totally surreal and awesome.)

All these things contributed to making Big Disco a memorable night, but what I loved most was the sense of community, the diversity of the crowd, the unity. There were groups of 20-something friends enjoying a night out, married couples in their 50s reliving their disco glory days, parents with their kids on their shoulders – the whole spectrum of Leeds society was out in force to have fun at the same event. The winning song was Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ and it was so appropriate – nobody shoved or argued, when the rain started everyone put up their umbrellas and danced on regardless, and when the sun came out a rainbow appeared over our heads. That’s some perfect symbolism guys.

Were you at Big Disco? What did you think?!