Leiden's Oldest University Has a Young Desi Scene

Leiden University is the oldest in the Netherlands and has one of the strongest South Asian studies programmes in Europe, which creates a unique wrinkle in the city's desi population. You have Indian students pursuing STEM degrees alongside Dutch and international academics who've spent years studying South Asian languages, history, and culture. The Kern Institute is legendary in the field. That combination of people who are South Asian and people who are deeply invested in South Asian scholarship makes Leiden's community intellectually distinct.

The format from New York: real contestants go on live dates on stage while the room watches and reacts. Afterward, the whole crowd mingles. In Leiden, this format is designed to concentrate the scattered desi community into one room for one night, creating connections that the apps and expat mixers never deliver.

The city itself is a classic Dutch university town. Canals, bikes, old buildings, and an outsized cultural life for its size. The Indian community is visible in the restaurants along Hooigracht and in the student housing around the Bio Science Park. The social calendar includes university events and not much else. For South Asian singles who aren't interested in the dating apps cycling through the same ten faces, there's a void.

Leiden's proximity to The Hague (fifteen minutes by train) and Amsterdam (thirty minutes) means the audience extends well beyond the city limits. The Randstad's interconnected train network turns every show in this corridor into a regional event. That's the advantage of running in the Netherlands. Everything is close.

Waitlist is open. Leiden is part of our Randstad and Dutch university city plans. Get on the list or apply to be a contestant.